Purpose: In this article, we respond to Catts and Kamhi's (2017) argument that reading comprehension is not a single ability. Method: We provide a brief review of the impact of strategy instruction, the importance of knowledge in reading comprehension, and possible avenues for future research and practice. Results: We agree with Catts and Kamhi's…

In the past few years, there has been increasing demand from school librarians for books for "reluctant readers"--despite the impressive offering of children's literature published each year and the success of blockbuster series like "Harry Potter, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Twilight," and "Hunger Games," among others. This is also in addition to all…

Many adult students have basic reading skills, but they are inexperienced readers who need to learn skills beyond the basics to equip them for success in college and career. How do educators face such adults with optimism and an eagerness to help improve specific reading skills so that these students can read and understand a variety of materials?…

Offers a brief history of college level reading programs from the 1920s to the present. Concludes that, despite past trials and errors, most established college reading programs appear to be in firm ground. (PRA)

A common technique to aid in developing critical thinking skills is to suggest pertinent and key questions and recommend that readers engage in an internal dialogue to answer these questions. This approach can be used effectively in reading newspaper articles and will become more useful with practice. Twelve constructive questions that newspaper…

Explains how students who have difficulty remembering what they have read may be taught how to reread sections of text by suggesting to them that reading is analogous to watching a video with the remote control in hand. (TB)

Explores what purposes literature circles serve for students and why they are positive components of literacy instruction. Discusses why literature circles are important, group size, texts to use, how students prepare for literature circles, and how to make adjustments for struggling readers. Includes a 13-item list of resources. (SR)

One reason that university students fail to achieve optimally in course work is their lack of reading skills. The higher education student needs to achieve skills appropriate to the involved task in reading. Through diagnosis, it is possible to ascertain weak links in the reading achievement of students. For students to achieve optimally from…

Addressing the question of how schools and teachers can foster an advanced level of reading awareness among secondary students, this paper focuses on the similarity in language used to describe recent research on both the composing process and comprehension as acts of constructing meaning. It presents a perspective on the reading/writing…

Concludes that poor readers benefit from a cooperative strategy that gives them practice toward fluency in a supportive situation. Explains how repeated reading works and offers a strategy for using it. (FL)

Argues that the directed reading activity (DRA) is a teaching strategy of limited use to students and discusses how teachers can transform the teaching strategy into a learning strategy. Discusses the generalization of the DRA strategy, emphasizes self-checking for learner control of strategies, and describes attributional consequences of teaching…

Describes two aspects of reading theory: a reader's background knowledge and the organization of text events and ideas. Illustrates how these aspects were applied to instructional design and discusses the results of this application. Includes recommendations on how to apply background knowledge and to create more comprehensible texts. (RDN)

Shared reading involves reading aloud, making a variety of print materials available, and promoting positive attitudes toward literacy. Shared reading experience simulates the bedtime reading experience. It is a happy, secure situation that invites participation by children. Shared reading materials often use enlarged print which allows every…

Prereading activities, analogous to prewriting activities, can draw on the reader's prior knowledge of the subject and make the student's reading of literature more proficient, raise the comprehension level, and make class discussions more meaningful. Some suggested prereading activities for the literature classroom include (1) making students…

This publication is a transcription of a forum held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on May 19, 2006 on background knowledge and reading proficiency. This topic goes to the heart of the education reform agenda, according to the first speaker, Eugenia Kemble, executive director of the Albert Shanker Institute, the sponsor of this…