Investigates the effectiveness of explicit instruction in think aloud as a means to promote elementary students' comprehension monitoring abilities. Concludes that both think-aloud (TA) and a directed reading-thinking activity (DRTA) strategies are effective but that additional research is needed to determine their relative effectiveness. (SR)

A study investigated the effects of systematically varying the vocabulary-related instructions that students receive before reading to further understanding of the vocabulary/comprehension relationship. Subjects were 299 students from fifth- or fourth/fifth-grade classrooms, who participated in 6 different conditions which included reading…

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…

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 bilingualism and biliteracy affect metacognition. Finds three strategies unique to successful Latina/o readers: (1) they actively transferred information across languages; (2) they translated from one language to another but most often from Spanish to English; and (3) they openly accessed cognate vocabulary when they read. (RS)

Learning outcomes and reading behaviors of 171 sixth-graders were investigated while they read expository text and answered adjunct questions. The 2,400-word text was divided into four lessons, and students answered text explicit-, text implicit-, or no questions (a control group) as they read silently and were videotaped. In addition, the…

Suggests a way of helping students apply their reading skills to solve math word problems. Claims comprehension monitoring is a set of skills that can be applied to both reading and math problem solving to help students integrate their reading skills with their computational skills. (MS)

Describes development and validation of the Reading Strategy Use (RSU) scale which assesses cognitive and metacognitive strategy use. Assesses discriminant validity of the components of metacognition and cognitive strategy use. Confirms, through several studies, validity and dimensional nature of the scale. Finds that the RSU scale shows high…

Investigates the effect of informing remedial readers that strategy use (such as looking for the main idea) improves performance on their self-efficacy and comprehension skills. Finds increased self-efficacy and comprehension skills, and suggests that remedial readers need multiple sources of strategy value information. (RS)

Investigates the efficacy of a metacognitive instructional strategy for use with basal readers in improving reading comprehension, strategy use, and attitude toward reading. Finds that children can be taught how to use metacognitive reading strategies and techniques during basal reading instruction. (RS)

Investigates the effects of an experimental set of reading lessons focusing on strategies applied to social studies textbook material. Finds that, in three of four comparisons, students receiving weekly strategy lessons were better at summarizing social studies material than were control subjects. Finds no differences between groups in terms of…

Examines the effect of training fourth-grade children to use the regulation strategy of rereading as a means of answering questions about previously read text. Finds that subjects trained in the rereading strategy used the strategy more often and were more likely to produce correct responses than were control subjects. (RS)

A study compared the relative effectiveness of a direct instruction method for finding the main idea in a text with a method that combined direct instruction with a checklist that encouraged the students to monitor their application of the main idea strategy. Subjects, 56 fifth-graders at a suburban elementary school, were divided into one of…

Latent inferential comprehension scores were calculated for fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students in a study that investigated cognitive styles as mediating variables in comprehension processes. (HOD)

Examines the effect of key concept mapping strategies on reading comprehension and writing performance of fifth grade students using basal reading materials. Concludes that key concept mapping enhances comprehension of factual/informative text, but has no effect on written composition. Finds that literary mapping strategies enhanced neither…