The first of two concerning children's periodicals, this column describes five such magazines that present information from various disciplines in a compelling way. (FL)

Suggests using materials dealing with sports in a variety of ways in content classes to improve reading and critical thinking. Provides specific suggestions for using sports in English, mathematics, social studies, science, and health classes. (MKM)

Provides suggestions from contributors on building vocabulary, using newspapers in instruction, and providing a news bulletin for content area instructors. (MKM)

Concludes that there are significant differences in the attitudes of secondary teachers toward teaching reading in content classrooms, with English teachers scoring "positive" on the instrument used, and mathematics, science, and social studies teachers scoring "average." (DD)

Assesses the "state of the art" of content reading, pointing to significant strides that have been made in dealing with the needs of content area reading, as well as to significant advances that still need to be made. (Author/GT)

Suggests three uses of the cloze procedure in content area reading to emphasize particular features such as content, structure, or concept. Provides illustrations of each type of study guide. (TJ)

Compares and contrasts the direct teaching of reading and the functional teaching of reading in a content area and indicates that a content area focus may facilitate the learning of reading skills. (TJ)

Describes InSight, a strategy for helping students (particularly grades 4-12) comprehend expository or informational text, focusing on increasing students' ability to answer questions based on their comprehension of text and to formulate their own questions based on their knowledge and text-based knowledge. (SR)

States that teachers and children in many classrooms are finding that thematic units incorporating children's literature can make learning content more interesting and memorable. Describes methods such as the thematic web and how to create a learning plan around the web. Gives four criteria for effective thematic study as related to content area…

Examines the relationship of readability to usage of main idea clues in introductory texts in sociology and in English composition texts. Concludes that use of main idea clues provides a useful supplement to readability formulas in evaluating college textbooks. (SR)

Recounts a college English teacher's experience of reading and rereading Noam Chomsky, building up a greater store of prior knowledge. Argues that Frank Smith provides a theory for the importance of prior knowledge and Chomsky's work provided a personal example with which to interpret and integrate that theory. (RS)

Examines the effectiveness of the SQ3R study technique in enhancing comprehension of material in an introductory psychology textbook. Finds significantly better performance on tests of recall or conceptual items for students using SQ3R than for those using individual study methods. (RS)

Describes how Multiple Response Techniques (MRTs) can be used before, during, and after reading to help students better comprehend content material. Argues that MRTs enhance comprehension by engaging all students, focusing on students' strengths, training students in reflectivity and self-monitoring, and allowing the teacher quick evaluation of…

Describes an activity for a content area reading class called "Subject of the Day," in which future secondary teachers consider ideas from disciplines other than their own and incorporate these ideas into their teaching repertoires to improve cross-curricular and interdisciplinary connections. (SR)

Discusses using counting books in the classroom, using them in language arts and reading, making counting books, and sharing and evaluating the books. (SR)