This article provides a broad introduction to comprehension instruction in content area classrooms. It begins with a brief overview of research and of thinking processes involved in reading comprehension. Then, it outlines several research-supported comprehension strategies, including: (1) Question asking and answering; (2) Clarifying a purpose…

In today's educational climate, many teachers find themselves in situations where they have little say in the overarching decisions that influence their teaching lives. Still, there are daily decisions that teachers can make to benefit students, and by uniting their decision-making efforts, teachers can make a difference. The author of this column…

Identifies previous metaphors for memory, such as Aristotle's "wax tablet" and the numerous storage and retrieval metaphors, and how storage metaphors are hampering reading research. (JC)

Describes two approaches--direct explanation and reciprocal teaching--for helping poor readers understand how the reading process works and how to study and learn from a text. Explains how to plan a lesson, and offers two samples. (MM)

Describes the process of mental modeling, a technique for helping poor readers become strategic readers by increasing their metacognitive control. (ARH)

Describes the background, materials, and implementation procedures for the Expository Writing Program. Points out that research has shown that participation in the program helped good and poor readers improve their composition and comprehension of informational texts. (ARH)

Noting the time parents can spend with their children in literacy activities is often limited, identifies and describes eight principles upon which the success of parent-child literacy efforts appear to hinge, such as (1) regular daily time, (2) purpose and motivation, and (3) real literacy activity. (NH)

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)

Describes a behavior modification program aimed at encouraging students to increase the frequency of leisure reading done at home. (EL)

Demonstrates the positive effects of instruction using environmental print to stimulate print awareness in preschool children. (FL)

Identifies types of reading passages that tend to be troublesome for poor readers who have difficulty in evaluating and revising their initial hypotheses about the content of a passage. Offers teaching strategies to help these students. (FL)

Presents a strategy that helps poor readers overcome some of the problems they have with reasoning. The strategy offers students a way of hypothesizing answers to inferential questions and checking their answers. (FL)

Provides one method for dealing with students' comprehension breakdowns by proposing a comprehension checklist. Explains that this checklist is designed to give struggling writers a starting point for fixing their own comprehension breakdowns by suggesting strategies and helping them self regulate their learning. Notes that the key to its…

Examines and evaluates a guided reading lesson using a literature webbing strategy, with predictable books. Concludes that this approach significantly improved young readers' comprehension. (MG)

Outlines the procedure for "Comprehension Court," a discussion model for building inferential skills and strategies at the elementary level. Provides a sample "Comprehension Court Evidence Sheet." (MM)