This report describes a program for increasing students' reading fluency and comprehension by giving them a variety of skills and strategies. The targeted population consisted of two elementary schools in a growing, lower to middle class community, located in central Illinois. The problems of lack of reading strategies were documented through data…

Although reading instruction alone can teach students many of the skills and strategies they require for reading content area materials successfully, students also must have ample opportunities to apply these skills and strategies in "real" reading situations--that is, as they read in the content areas. Specifically, teachers can provide…

A considerable body of research has shown that Guided Reading lessons provide the structure students need to develop specific ways to approach reading a text. In guided reading, teachers first provide instruction for the reading involving general discussion of the text to build background information. Second, children participate in supported…

The United States government's National Reading Panel (NRP) "Put Reading First" report points to phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension as the major building blocks for reading success. This booklet seeks to demonstrate clearly and explicitly how the Harcourt Reading Program, "Trophies," links…

The Lexile Framework provides teachers with tools to help them link the results of reading assessment with subsequent instruction, focuses on appropriate-level curriculum for readers at all educational levels, and is designed to be flexible enough to use alongside any type of reading program. Suggested areas for application of this system include:…

A study analyzed word recognition instruction in four first-grade classrooms to begin to identify the instructional practices that best foster learning to read words for particular profiles of children. The study was based on the question of which, and how many, word-recognition strategies should be taught to first-grade children. Subjects were…

Provides information about informal reading inventories (IRI), an early reading assessment. Explains what IRIs are; who should administer an IRI; when and how to administer an IRI; the reliability of data from IRIs; and the limitations of IRIs. (PM)

Presents the ideas of four elementary school classroom teachers with regard to reading instruction. Includes "An Invitation to Reading Fluency,""Reading Chapter Books for Fun,""Easing the K-1 Transition through Language Experiences," and "A Meeting of Minds: Teaching Using Biographies." (PRA)

Examines how elementary students referred for compensatory remedial reading services performed on several key reading process variables: word recognition errors, meaning-changing errors, comprehension, and reading rate. Finds word recognition and comprehension variables approached instructional levels, and reading rate alone was significantly…

Describes the Read Naturally (RN) strategy to improve reading fluency that combines reading from a model, repeated readings, and progress-monitoring. Suggests positive results found in data collected from classroom implementations with K-3 remedial and special education students and 6th-grade special education students. (NH)

The need for research-based instructional support for culturally and linguistically diverse students with reading difficulties is a national priority. In this rural Hawaii study, teachers and parents selected four first-grade students who were experiencing delays in reading fluency and comprehension skills to receive tutoring and video…

Prosodic reading, or reading with expression, is considered one of the hallmarks of fluent reading. The major purpose of the study was to learn how reading prosody is related to decoding and reading comprehension skills. Suprasegmental features of oral reading were measured in 2nd- and 3rd-grade children (N = 123) and 24 adults. Reading…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (E/BD) frequently exhibit academic deficits alongside their behavioral deficits, particularly in the area of reading; however, there are very few studies examining ways to address the reading problems of this population of students at the middle and high school level. This study examined the effect…

The author asserts that "Children benefit when teachers and parents reinforce the same concepts and ideas. For this to happen, teachers and parents must have some knowledge of what happens in the classroom and what happens at home that support reading acquisition." In this article, the author describes several strategies that teachers can share…

Science content area texts are difficult for most middle school students, particularly whose reading skills are below grade level. This article describes an innovative approach to integrating the teaching of middle school science content and reading skills to increase levels of student success with content area textbooks. For reading instruction,…