Describes an adapted form of the "Directed Reading Thinking Activity" which guides students through reading assignments with content materials containing an abundance of factual information and details that need to be remembered. (RL)

A study investigated the effect of relevant background knowledge on the reading comprehension of students of Spanish. Students with limited knowledge of baseball took a comprehension test on a Spanish-language report of a baseball game. Results indicate that background knowledge is possibly more important than language level for comprehension.…

Three methods of preposed questioning aimed at improving student comprehension of short stories were tested with a group of high school students. The methods were as follows: teacher-prepared, preposed questions, self-preposed questions (student-prepared), and schema self-preposed questions (embodying teacher-specified limitations within which…

Options are presented in this paper for the imaginative use of questions in content area study. An argument is made against the stereotyped use of questions to test factual recall and for the use of questions to expand instruction in content study to stimulate higher levels of thinking and learning activities. Suggestions and examples are provided…

Developing prerequisite learning skills and strategies and providing knowledge necessary to further learning in a particular discipline are the dual roles of a middle-grade content-area teacher. This paper demonstrates how these dual roles can support each other in developing readiness for learning. The importance of readiness for learning is…

This study addressed effects of varied presentations of advance organizers on text recall of grade level content area reading by 30 seventh grade subjects with reading problems. Most effective was oral delivery of the advance organizer followed by guided discussion. Recall was also improved if questions were asked soon after reading and were…

A two-part study examined the effectiveness of glossing (writing comments or questions in text to improve comprehension) when students use it in social studies texts in combination with discussions and other activities. Students were divided into two groups, one of which learned glossing while the other engaged in assigned workbook activities.…

Subjects in the first part of this two-part study (56 undergraduates) read a 24-frame text on computer programming that was presented either in logical or in random order. The results of this experiment showed that the subjects given an advance organizer in the random order presentation performed better on a posttest than did control subjects (no…

"Imbedded Aids to Readers" is a theoretical component of the "Languaging in the Content Areas" (LICA) thesis, which emphasizes that understanding the uses of language and increasing language practice will improve content reading and critical thinking ability. The imbedded aids are clusters of vocabulary and…

The effectiveness of previewing versus discourse analysis as methods of reading instruction was tested. Previewing (supported by schema theory) was based on the premise that helping students relate their knowledge to the content of a reading selection would facilitate comprehension. Discourse analysis (based on research on text structures)…

The survey step in the SQ3R study reading strategy consists of scanning the reading material and its organizational features to establish the nature/magnitude of the reading task and to formulate guidelines for accomplishing that task. When the chapters of six history textbooks were examined for the presence, absence, and number of organizational…

Suggests ways of diagnosing problems in students' study habits and offers strategies for improving study skills and test taking strategies. (SRT)

Reports findings of a study investigating the effects of three prereading activities--advance organizers, structured overviews/graphic organizers, and multivocabulary experiences--done both orally and in writing before a text reading assignment was given. (FL)

In these studies, the structured content overview positively affected students' upper and lower level comprehension scores as compared to either vocabulary preteaching or control (no prereading) treatments. Vocabulary preteaching appeared to be more important with science than with history materials. (Author/SJL)

Describes a prereading learning activity designed to make comprehension easier in content area reading for students with limited background. (MKM)