Offering 33 essays that represent the best in current reading instruction, this book offers detailed insight into key issues and topics in the teaching of reading, including phonics and word skills, reading strategies, miscue analysis, the use of literature, cultural and linguistic diversity, and the needs of special populations. After an…

Reciprocal teaching is a scaffolded technique based on teacher modeling, student participation, and four strategies that good readers use to comprehend text: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing. Although reciprocal teaching originally was designed for use with struggling readers, this book offers innovative lessons aimed at…

This paper outlines ways other than drills that students can practice reading methods. Flash cards, software programs, essay projects, and synonym hunts are examples of enjoyable ways for students to practice. In a more formal method of introducing words, a teacher writes words on the board and discusses them before assigning a story with the new…

Discusses a whole-language approach to teaching guided reading to deaf students. Each morning, a written letter, using vocabulary and syntax in accordance with students' reading ability, previews the day's events. With teacher guidance, students explore their reading skills in groups to encourage application of reading strategies in a natural…

Basing their classroom instruction on the Dunn Learning Styles Model, two third-grade teachers modified certain classroom-design features, including noise, light, temperature, spatial design, sociological stimuli, perception centers, mobility, and intake. Accommodating students' reading styles has yielded superior results on the Texas Assessment…

This article presents ideas for turning elementary-level nonreaders into readers. Activities include teachers'"all-about-me letters" to gain insight into students' interests, and interviewing students to document their use of reading strategies. A reading strategy record sheet for the student interviews is included. (SM)

Investigates the functions of reading across diverse cultural settings by examining children's purposes for reading in 13 countries and then identifying functions of reading common across age levels and nationalities. Finds three common factors identified by 10 and 13 year olds: utility, enjoyment, and escape. (KEH)

Investigates prediction instruction in three basal reading series. Finds that many basal reader materials do not contain explicit definitions of predictions, nor do they provide rationale statements related to prediction instruction. Discusses implications for prediction instruction in basal readers. (RS)

Lists four characteristics of strategic readers: establishing goals, selecting appropriate strategies, monitoring comprehension, and displaying a positive attitude toward reading. Discusses how these characteristics provide readers with the necessary skills to profit fully from the reading process. (MG)

Outlines an observational album assessment device, which describes children's reading behavior, taking into account attitudes, responses and strategies to produce a profile of each reader's achievements. (NH)

Examines the strategies readers engage in by analyzing their self reporting responses during and after reading a passage. Argues that teachers should instruct children to be aware of the nature and effectiveness of their own reading strategies. (RAE)

Examines some problems and techniques for teaching prefixes and suffixes at the middle elementary level. States that fewer affixes should be taught, while emphasizing the application of affix knowledge to unfamiliar words. Lists the most common prefixes and suffixes in printed school English for grades three to nine. (MM)

A successful reading instruction program requires ample time for actual text reading; teacher-directed comprehension strategy instruction; opportunities for peer and collaborative learning; and time for discussing what has been read. To develop independent, motivated, lifelong readers, a substantial part of children's reading instructional time…

Investigates the relationship between the relative difficulty of passages and the number of unknown words in passages. Finds little support for the theory that free reading results in large vocabulary growth. Calls into question the practice of devoting large amounts of classroom time to free reading if the purpose is to increase vocabulary or…

Study examined the relationship between elementary students' perceptions of instructional behaviors and use of cognitive strategy during reading comprehension. Students read, then answered questions about, strategy use and teacher behaviors. Teacher behaviors created conditions that influenced strategy use; student interpretations of certain…