A study compared the effects of words in isolation (WI) and words in context (WC) instruction on the word learning and retention of word meanings of 11 average readers from a multi-age classroom (grades 4 and 5). To investigate whether WC instruction improved a child's ability to use context cues to determine the meaning of an unknown word…

Two studies addressed the relationship between elementary school students' knowledge of specific words and their comprehension of passages involving those words. In the first study, 39 students in grades 5 and 6 read 4 passages, answered comprehension questions, and defined words that were included in the questions. Most of the words in the…

This study was conducted to determine whether the Success for All whole school reform model or Comer School Development Program had a significant effect on fourth graders' reading comprehension. Twelve students in experimental group A were homogeneously grouped to be taught using the Success for All whole school reform model. Twelve students in…

This document contains samples and explanations from Colorado's state reading and writing comprehension test for Grade 4, hereby released to the public (parents, teachers, and any other interested parties). It presents one reading comprehension item, the scoring guide for that item, and 6 different student responses, with the scores they received.…

Fourth-grade children previously identified as poor readers comprehended more information when they read personalized, as opposed to standard, stories. Names and places given by the students personalized the stories. No difference was found among children of average reading ability on this variable. (Author/PN)

This study tested poor readers' facilities at detecting informational inconsistency in a text given at three levels of explicitness in prereading direction. Experimental materials presented a generalizability dilemma, which is discussed in detail. (Author/GK)

The acquisition by preadolescent and late adolescent students of two kinds of information from brief texts was assessed: premise information and inference information. Age differences were obtained in inference performance. However, when the texts provided sufficient contextual support, the inference performance of preadolescents was equivalent to…

Explores whether fourth-grade students who were taught specific research-based strategies using a transactional strategies instruction approach would improve in comprehension achievement and would be more engaged during reading. Notes that the treatment group was taught predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing strategies; and the…

This study examined the short term recall of serially presented verbal information by 49 prelingually deafened and 39 hearing students (mean grade level 6). Findings suggest that neither discrepancy in the ordered short-term recall of verbal materials nor discrepancies in reading comprehension are directly assignable to differences in memory…

Examines the effects of reading comprehension ability and the presence of explicit or implicit causal relationships upon recall of propositional content and comprehension of interpropositional relationships. Finds that, in the late elementary grades, better readers begin to develop a strategy for the processing of written text which involves…

Examines how vocabulary knowledge, the familiarity of words, and analytical reasoning affect sixth-grade students' ability to learn word meanings from passages in basal reading textbooks. Finds that general and passage-specific vocabulary knowledge are important variables that influence learning from context. Finds that analytical reasoning was…

Majority of middle level students should be able to comprehend texts if teachers first prepare students for learning, provide adequate support during reading, and help students expend and apply what they have read to situations outside text. Suggested techniques include using graphic organizers and pattern guides to outline narrative and…

Investigates the effects of instructions to induce mental imagery and attend to text illustrations on fourth graders' reading comprehension and recall of narrative text. Finds that images and illustrations independently enhanced reading performance and that, in combination, these two strategies resulted in impressive increases in children's…

Finds that children who are deaf use textual schemata (rather than content schema activated through thematic organizers) for comprehension processing while reading narrative text. (SR)