Describes a gifted student research activity in which historical novels are evaluated for their historical accuracy. Reports that students are able to integrate their own thoughts with several different sources of information. (RS)

Documents the changes that occurred in one junior high school reading class as students prepared for a state-mandated test. Shows that discrepancies between the authentic instruction the students were used to and the rigid demands of the reading test were a shock to all involved. Maintains that authentic reading instruction deserves authentic…

Reports on the various ways teachers use textbooks to make assignments for discussion and offers a checklist for teachers interested in analyzing their own use of text in discussion. (HOD)

Describes a study of the relationship between performance on word problems and general reading ability, certain problem-solving reading and thinking skills, and computation skills. (DD)

Describes a "writing workshop" for eighth graders which focuses on the writing process as well as the finished product. Reports the approach's effectiveness by noting students' improvement on standardized exams and syntactic maturity of student compositions (as measured by the increase in number of words per T-unit). (MM)

Describes a year-long study of the reading dialogue journals of eight eighth grade students. Finds that responses dealt with ongoing business, summaries, metacognitive responses, connections, and evaluation of text and author. Discusses how such journals promote reading development and how journal entries differ according to audience. (SR)

Reports on a study that examined differences in the comprehension scores achieved by seventh and eighth grade students on Form 1 and Form 3 of the Gates-MacGinitie, Level E. (HOD)

Using evidence drawn from classroom observations of grades eight and 11, the article addresses the question: If content area teachers are not implementing the methods that reading educators suggest, what are the characteristics of existing instruction? (HOD)

Explains how teaching study skills using real content area materials was accomplished in an eighth-grade remedial reading class. Investigates student performance in social studies and science classes. Finds that students improved both the self-report of study habits and their grades in social studies and science classes. (RS)

Finds that sixth- and eighth-grade students were equally able to participate in discussions of books, answering many questions at interpretive and evaluative levels of thinking. (HOD)

Reveals the phases through which an apathetic eighth-grade class of poor readers went on their way to becoming active learners. The phases included: (1) discussing attitudes and goals; (2) positive environment; (3) sharing literature through oral reading; (4) reading for an audience; and (5) active learning. (SKC)