Describes the Scaffolding Reading Experience, a technique that helps students deal with challenging expository texts and supports social science inquiry methods. This technique relies on various supporting activities during the prereading, during-reading, and postreading phases. Outlines a series of these activities used during a U.S. history…

Discusses four critical areas of instruction (decoding skills, language development/competence, concept/context building, and critical thinking skills/strategies) which can help limited English proficient (LEP) students improve their reading competence. (MM)

Six weeks were spent working with a five-year-old kindergarten child who had an excellent understanding of sound/symbol relationships but did not know how to read for meaning. A variety of techniques was used to help the child develop reading strategies and increase confidence: directed reading-thinking activity in week one; student retelling of a…

The majority of current college freshmen see no place in their lives for reading as an opportunity for intellectual or emotional enjoyment. They read only the most utilitarian texts--appliance instructions or road signs, for example. A teacher cannot "make" students read anything, but he or she can help them find ways to like reading;…

A study tested the relative effectiveness of four methods of teaching remedial reading students (grades 6 through 11) how to identify the main idea of expository paragraphs. Forty-seven students were divided according to treatment and were given the same pool of 125 paragraphs about geology and weather to read, and were given pretests and…

Designed to help teachers encourage positive student attitudes toward reading on their own, this guide provides a developmental reading framework to introduce students to books beyond the basal series and to enhance reading motivation. Following an introduction, the guide covers the following subjects: (1) goals and objectives for both teachers…

A companion piece to the Resource Guide and the Teaching Strategies Series, Booklets A and B, of "Improving Students' Abilities to Read and Think," this manual is designed to instruct supervisory and training personnel in how to help teachers make the best use of those teaching guides. It describes the role of the curriculum leader and…

Designed to help teachers, especially Title I teachers, improve reading programs, this handbook presents guidelines for (1) enhancing the diagnostic-prescriptive reading system approach to teaching and learning, (2) promoting the continuity of learning from level to level, (3) broadening the range of skills taught, and (4) developing interest in…

2 STUDIES DESIGNED TO EXPLORE THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER IN THE CLASSROOM ARE DESCRIBED. THE FIRST STUDY USED ABOUT 5 HOURS OF PROGRAMED HIGH SCHOOL GEOMETRY MATERIALS. IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT EFFECTIVENESS OF THESE MATERIALS WOULD BE INCREASED IF THE TEACHER ACTIVELY AUGMENTED INSTRUCTION THROUGH REPHRASING DIFFICULT ITEMS, ADDING EXAMPLES, WORKING…

Focusing on reading comprehension instruction at the word, sentence, paragraph, and larger unit levels, the articles in this volume were drawn from a variety of sources. The three articles in the first section deal with theoretical bases and conceptual concerns. Specific topics covered include the argument for a discourse analysis model, the…

Examines three strategies designed to help middle school students use text structures to comprehend expository text: (1) hierarchical summaries, (2) conceptual maps, and (3) thematic organizers. Summarizes advantages and disadvantages of each strategy and recommends that teachers consider the outcomes they want and select the most appropriate…

Literacy is a term that has been defined many ways, with definitions ranging from those that are very narrow to those that are very broad. Among the more wide sweeping was that of the 1991 National Literacy Act, which defined literacy as a wide range of language tasks associated with everyday life, including those "necessary to function on…

Based on the 1998 Arkansas State Language Arts Framework, this sample curriculum model for grade three language arts is divided into sections focusing on writing; listening, speaking, and viewing; and reading. Each section lists standards; benchmarks; assessments; and strategies/activities. The reading section itself is divided into print…

Based on the 1998 Arkansas State Language Arts Framework, this sample curriculum model for grade four language arts is divided into sections focusing on writing; listening, speaking, and viewing; and reading. Each section lists standards; benchmarks; assessments; and strategies/activities. The reading section itself is divided into print…

Discusses characteristics of withdrawn children and describes actions the teacher can take to help such children progress in reading. (MKM)