Teaching and learning about comprehension is of paramount importance, from the beginning of reading instruction right through all years of school, in all curriculum areas. Research has shown that comprehension instruction can improve the reading comprehension of all readers, even beginning readers and struggling older readers. This article offers…

Explains how to help students understand the relationship between figuring out words and the ability to comprehend a text. Describes how to solidify the word-learning/comprehension connection via explaining, modeling, and supporting transfer to independence. Concludes that explaining, modeling, and supporting transfer to independence form the…

A balanced approach to reading instruction favors cultivating reading as a strategic activity that requires intentionality, interest, and motivation on the part of the learner. Includes references. (MD)

Independent reading can serve as a practical context for linking vocabulary and comprehension and is a feasible strategy that complements other instructional approaches while it expands word knowledge in a naturalistic setting. Teachers should serve as reading models while students engage in silent reading, but teachers should also be cautious…

Examines the content of the pamphlet "What Works: Research about Teaching and Learning." Asks (1) what it means to say it is "drawn from""Becoming a Nation of Readers"; and (2) whether the editors are guilty of political chicanery with reading research, as some have argued. (RS)