The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of written prequestioning on the reading comprehension of fifth grade students. The sample consisted of 144 fifth grade students randomly selected from six elementary schools and randomly assigned to one of two groups: half of the subjects received questions to guide their reading prior to each…

This report describes an action research project improving student academic reading achievement. The targeted population consisted of fifth grade students in a growing suburb of a major midwestern metropolitan area. The evidence for existence of the problem included student surveys, assessments, teacher observations and checklists. Analysis of…

This study was an investigation into the relationships between reading interests and reading comprehension as demonstrated by a group of fifth-graders who rated reading passages for interest and then were checked for comprehension of these same passages. A seven-point rating inventory, ranging from a "liked very, very much" rating to a "disliked…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of handwriting and related skills upon the written spelling scores of fifth graders. Comparisons were made between above average and below average readers and between boys and girls in performance on the oral and written spelling tests and tests of handwriting and related skills. The study…

Thirty fifth-grade children participated in a study of regressions in oral reading of narrative and expository material. A cloze test, a retelling task, and a comprehending task were administered to each student. Analysis of regressions in reading indicated nine categories of cause of regression: correction, anticipatory problems, intonation…

This study investigates the effects of meaningful-learning postquestions on recall of relevant and incidental information by two groups of fifth graders, good and poor comprehenders. The two groups had 48 fifth graders each, selected from 228 students who took the New Developmental Reading Test and the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test. Subjects…

This study was concerned with the use of a large quantity of paperback books in a school reading program and the effect of such a saturated book environment on the reading of individual students. The oral reading miscues made by 27 fifth graders prior to and immediately following their exposure to a Ludington Reading Room which housed over 3,000…

The purpose of this study was to describe the effect that providing a specific purpose for reading a selection had on the reading behavior exhibited by subjects with different reading backgrounds, and on their comprehension of the material read. The subjects in this study were selected from the fifth grade in two schools on the basis of their…

The purpose of this study was to determine if syntactic maturity, as measured by T-unit length, clause length, and clauses per T-unit, and if the level of reading comprehension, as measured by cloze tests and a standardized reading test, of one group each of selected fifth, seventh, and ninth graders could be influenced by the students completing…

This report describes an intervention to aid students in demonstrating their comprehension of reading material through an alternative instrument. The target population consisted of fifth grade students in a middle class community in central Illinois. Problems in comprehension were revealed through declining district test scores and teacher…

An action research project implemented a program for improving the reading skills of at-risk middle school students. The targeted population consisted of fifth- and seventh-grade students in a rural, middle class community located in northeastern Illinois. Evidence for the problem includes teacher observation, checklists, standardized tests, and…