Comprehension tests are often used interchangeably, suggesting an implicit assumption that they are all measuring the same thing. We examine the validity of this assumption by comparing some of the most popular reading comprehension measures used in research and clinical practice in the United States: the Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT), the two…

Purpose: This final article covering the topic of the interplay between decoding, comprehension, and content versus structure knowledge describes a set of language initiatives that are focused toward content area learning. Inspired by the work of their colleagues from diverse fields and their own work, the authors offer suggestions to clinicians…

Explains five strategies for teaching reading comprehension: (1) imaging or visualizing; (2) paraphrasing; (3) questioning and inference; (4) prereading; and (5) metacognitive strategies. (SRT)

Studies of intensive phonics instruction are related to the issue of hyperlexia. Evidence on the incidence, frequency, and characteristics of hyperlexia does not support allegations that intensive phonics instruction interferes with development of reading comprehension skills. Hyperlexic children exhibit many symptoms of neurological impairment…

Consistency with flexibility can be provided in a remedial reading program for learning disabled elementary grade students with a seven-step program involving oral language remediation, alphabetic-phonetic instruction, auditory analysis, Glass analysis, (decoding, Glass, 1973) neurological impress, and strategies for comprehension. (DB)

Predicting and questioning are two of the most important skills that children can use to achieve reading proficiency. Strategies are suggested that teachers can use to help children develop these skills. Appropriate reading materials and questioning techniques are discussed. (PP)

A teaching strategy that taps students' comprehension strengths and reduces the anxieties that often result from reading disability is explained. The strategy provides students with extensive story understanding before independent reading and uses story understanding to help students identify unknown words. (Author/DB)

Although knowledge of multimeaning words is important for reading comprehension, deaf readers may know only the most common meanings or nuances of high-frequency multimeaning words. Results of a study are reported in which 33 profoundly hearing impaired students stratified into three equal age groups (ages 10, 11, and 12) were administered a…

Designed as a step book, this resource is intended to be used by all teachers, classroom volunteers, and parents for one-to-one or small group reading instruction. The resource provides a clear focus for guided reading groups and can be used with any text, on any grade level in elementary school. It could be a solution for the growing number of…

Describes two learning activity packages using printed words on commercial products for teaching children the major decoding skills of phonetic and structural analysis and the major comprehension skill areas of main idea, reading for details, sequence, determining cause and effect, drawing conclusions, and following directions. (Author/CMV)

The reader's knowledge about how a message is woven into discourse plays an important role in reading comprehension. This article first reviews reasons for student difficulties in comprehension, sentence groups, and sense units and then presents a basic discourse framework and its applications for analyzing text passages. (Contains two…

Published by the state of North Carolina, the purpose of this booklet is to assist teachers as they plan instruction to help students become proficient readers. The booklet contains matrices for comprehension, word identification, and instructional strategies to assist in planning and helping students be successful on the End-of-Grade (EOG) Tests…

This study reviewed the literature on phonological processes and decoding in beginning reading, and sought to determine the effect of functional articulation defects on decoding abilities in 18 first-grade students. Results indicated that students without speech impediments did not score significantly higher on a decoding test than students with…

This article considers the ramifications of early reading failure within the context of J. Chall's five-stage model of reading development: (1) initial decoding, (2) fluency, (3) reading for meaning, (4) relationships and viewpoints, and (5) synthesis. Instructional implications include learning disabled students' special need for good instruction…

Presents word building activities to boost elementary students' decoding skills. Building Toward a Secret Word helps K-3 students learn decoding skills by building words from the letters in one secret word. Sort Words, Transfer Sounds has students in grades 1-3 use sounds from words they know to figure out new words that rhyme. (SM)