Argues that vocabulary is best taught by helping students experience the meaning of words. Offers research background and four teaching methods to use with intermediate grade students. (FL)

A study with 18 deaf high school students found that skills that actually contribute to reading proficiency included use of prior text information, prior knowledge, reading speed and consistency, use of active memory for function words and inflections, and correct processing of relative clauses and the passive voice. Instructional implications are…

A study examined primary grade children's comprehension processes while reading a particular story in which specific areas likely to pose reading difficulty had been identified. Based on the children's readings and on their answers to questions concerning the text, five problem areas were identified: (1) poor decoding or word attack skills (2)…

Research discoveries over the past 15 years concerning reading comprehension have had a significant impact on reading instruction, particularly schema theory. This theory, based on prior learning, which states that the reader uses the text to construct a meaning within his or her own mind, affects what teachers can do to help students improve…

Provides several types of prereading activities that combine into one strategy stressing vocabulary, oral language development, and prediction. (FL)

A study investigated the effect of underlining, naturally occurring prior knowledge, induced prior knowledge, and placement order of text information on students' immediate and delayed recall of unfamiliar text. Two reading passages of approximately 800 words were generated on the topic of computers, each with sections of information judged…

To show the difficulty of eliminating test bias and to develop a methodology for distinguishing between the effects of prior knowledge and of skill development on reading comprehension, 207 eighth grade students from rural and urban areas were administered an 18-question reading comprehension test. Quantitative and qualitative effects of prior…

Drawing upon research on the composing process and schema theory, a study explored the effects of a generative writing task presented prior to reading on the delayed recall of fourth grade students. The purpose of the study was to determine if a writing task that required the learner to identify with events in a text to be read later would assist…

The product of a two-year study investigating the literacy behavior of nine kindergarten students and their classmates, this report first explains the impetus and the theoretical foundations for the investigation and describes its subjects and setting. It then presents the methodology and the data collected from several related studies: (1)…

Intended for elementary and secondary school teachers, supervisors, curriculum specialists, and researchers, this report presents the proceedings of an institute on the Learning from Text Project sponsored by the University of California and the California State University systems. After an introduction by institute chairperson Deborah Hancock,…

Noting that successful comprehension, problem solving, and decision making are dependent upon activation and appropriate application of relevant schemata of existing knowledge, this report examines the practice of oversimplifying information in the content areas to make teaching and studying easier, and the dangers inherent in doing so. The report…