Intended for teachers, this monograph encourages educators to think critically both about critical reading and about what constitutes instruction of critical thinking in schools. The book contains the following chapters: (1) "Crisis in Confidence: The Need for Learner-Centered Schools"; (2) "A Mechanistic World View: Knowledge as…

This short book gives an overview of a curriculum plan, a plan to develop the kind of learners that young children should become. The purpose of this self-directed learner curriculum is to help parents and educators guide young learners so they become capable, purposeful, responsible citizens. It provides an outline of the steps needed to develop…

Presents an annotated bibliography of 12 research articles, all related to reader response theory and its applications to the English classroom. (HB)

It appears that the value of providing students with strategies to activate their prior knowledge base or to build a base if one does not exist is supported by current research. Creating an opportunity to challenge students to call on their collective experiences (prior knowledge) is essential. Through this process, teachers move students from…

Addressing recent trends in eye movement research, this 24-item FAST Bib contains selections which date from 1973 through the 1980s. Selections are divided into sections on overview, perceptual processes, cognitive processes, and reading disability and dyslexia. (NKA)

Intended for administrators and policymakers as well as teachers, this digest explores the nature of students' metacomprehension, or their awareness of their own understanding, and the implications of this awareness for reading instruction. After defining metacomprehension, the digest discusses why this awareness is important to the learning…

Examines some recent ERIC materials on comprehension processes and on how teachers can improve students' awareness of comprehension or metacomprehension. (HOD)

Based on the idea that word knowledge has particular importance in literate societies, this Digest finds that most people feel that there is a common sense relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension, i.e., messages are composed of ideas, and ideas are expressed in words. The Digest considers several viewpoints on teaching…

Discusses theories of the transfer of teaching based on the theory of common elements and the cognitive theory of elements and mechanisms. Highlights include inferential reasoning; mental models; memory and comprehension; and future directions, including theory development, metrics of transfer distance, psychological and educational research, and…

Cites ERIC materials describing how music in the classroom can help improve reading readiness, recall, and creative writing. (HTH)

Designed to provide resources for educators who teach reading for students with learning disabilities (LD), this 26-item annotated bibliography contains selections published in the ERIC database between 1987 and 1989. The bibliography is divided into two sections: an overview of reading and research on learning disabilities, and strategies for…

In an effort to assess community college students' knowledge of the liberal arts, the Center for the Study of Community Colleges developed and field-tested a student survey and General Academic Assessment (GAA) instrument. The GAA was completed by a sample of 8,024 students at four large, urban community college districts. The scores were cross…

Controlling the rate of oral delivery in the second language classroom has been demonstrated as beneficial to the learner, whose information-processing capacity is an important factor in listening comprehension. Rate of information delivery can be controlled by limiting the actual rate of words per unit of time, or by maintaining content…

This book guides parents and children in developing strategies to figure out words. The first chapter, Skills for Identifying Words, presents general strategies for making sense of words, and for using the eyes and ears to identify words. The first chapter also offers listening and visual exercises. The second chapter, Using Phonics To Identify…

Intended for literature instructors, this digest explains the relationship of transactional theory (a reciprocal, mutually defining relationship between the reader and the literary text) to the teaching of literature. The importance of the reader's part in literature is first demonstrated, noting that attention must be paid to who the readers are,…