A study was conducted to examine and describe the knowledge and beliefs of elementary school teachers and students regarding the acquisition of reading comprehension skills during reading instruction and the application of those skills during social studies instruction. One teacher and 26 fourth and fifth grade students were observed daily over a…

Designed particularly with secondary school teachers in mind but applicable to elementary school teachers as well, this publication summarizes research and suggests activities for improving student reading skills in the content area of science. Sections of the publication provide the following information: (1) how to determine student reading…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The ten titles deal with the following topics: (1) an investigation and selective assessment of secondary school reading programs in Illinois; (2) a comparison of the content of oral and written responses of tenth grade students to…

Nine prevalent ideas about reading in the content areas are analyzed in this paper. The ideas are as follows: (1) students can not read textbooks because elementary teachers did not teach them to read; (2) students can not read textbooks because of poor phonics and word recognition skills; (3) "real learning" results from reading, rather than from…

This study was designed to determine statistically whether the prolonged use of three prepared reading readiness activities has any influence on seventh-grade students' abilities to read unfamiliar literature; which of the readiness activities is most influential on students' abilities; and whether or not longevity of such influence exists. The…

The model outlined in this document describes the development of an integrated approach to teaching content reading skills to teachers. Methods and materials applicable to texts and media currently used in classrooms were produced by inservice teachers of science, math, and social studies at a Salt Lake City junior high school. This document…

The problems with the premise that content area instructors should be teaching reading and study skills are many. Content teachers, particularly at the college level, disagree with the premise: "If a student can't read, he doesn't belong in college"--type of philosophy. On the whole, content teachers have never been exposed to a course on reading…

This book, a comprehensive statement about the reading problems of adolescent students, relates the principles of learning and learning theory to the teaching of reading. Using a linguistic orientation, the author guides the teacher through the procedure for developing word recognition skills, comprehension skills, content-area reading skills, and…

Advocates the use of science lessons as a basis for teaching young students to read. Offers the Language-Experience Approach (LEA) as a means of teaching beginning and remedial reading and of expanding science concepts and vocabulary. Describes an LEA unit on astronomy and reviews the benefits of this approach. (ML)

Describes a four-step instructional process that helps middle and secondary students become actively involved in their reading and provides a structure for main idea development in reading and writing. (HOD)

Written in a form that is easy to use in the classroom, this book presents a wide variety of ideas and teaching strategies adapted for content area teachers. There is a least one content area example for each strategy presented in the book; many strategies have examples gleaned from more than one subject. Chapters in the book are: (1) Reading To…

Reports a study of replacing a basal reading program with a curriculum emphasizing science activities, science process skills, and science-content-based reading in three fourth-grade classrooms (n=51). Results showed these students displayed significantly greater sores on tests of reading and science, and more positive attitudes toward science and…

A growing research base on adolescent literacy supports an emphasis on direct instruction in the reading and writing skills needed to perform these more complex literacy tasks. However, many middle and high school teachers have little or no preparation for teaching these skills within their content-area disciplines and have few resources upon…

When your school wants to do more to improve the literacy skills of secondary school students, here's a leadership plan that takes your program in a bold, new direction. Instead of focusing on isolated teaching strategies and textbooks, the authors introduce you to a whole-school program that emphasizes: (1) Exposing students in all subjects to…

A study examined whether or not high school teachers could name or list the reading skills needed by their students. The three skills categories were comprehending expository text, understanding content area vocabulary, and applying word analysis skills. The questions used to elicit information from teachers were (1) What must students do to…