Presents two cross-checking activities to help K-3 students learn decoding. The cross-checking involves decoding by using the consonants in a word along with the context. Children learn to decode by thinking about two things simultaneously (what word would make sense in a sentence and the word's letters and sounds). (SM)

Describes a Silent Directed Thinking Activity that was based on an abridged version of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" and used with eighth-grade remedial classes. (HOD)

A widely used technique for teaching reading, Directed Reading Activity (DRA), contributes to the development of passive readers rather than thinking readers. This article describes an alternative approach, Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DRTA), contrasts DRTA with DRA, gives an example of DRTA in action, and provides tips for switching to…

Shows how the reading teacher can use television as a complementary resource and can transfer to his or her classroom some of the popular formats from "The Electric Company." (EL)

Conversation is a basis for critical thinking. It is the thread that ties together cognitive strategies and provides students with the practice that becomes the foundation for reading, writing, and thinking. In recent years, proficient reader research has yielded information about what good readers do as they comprehend text. This article provides…

This paper addresses the value and components of developing prereading skills to improve students' reading comprehension. Prereading activities are seen to prepare the student to both read and comprehend the story and involve cognitive engagement with ideas crucial to comprehension of the reading material. Teachers are urged to develop the…

Describes ARC (Associate=Prereading, Read=Guided Reading, Connect=After Reading), an instructional reading technique employing cognitive mapping or networking, based on the ability of students to utilize prior knowledge and assimilate new material. Describes the ARC procedure, provides a rationale for the technique, and reports observed results.…

Argues that new vocabulary words should be presented in concept clusters and related to prior knowledge to facilitate organization in memory. Presents a sample lesson for science vocabulary. (HOD)

The article explains how elementary teachers can strike a balance between whole language and traditional approaches to reading instruction, describing successful programs and sharing several teachers' suggestions for combining the two methods in the classroom. A list of reading resources is included. (SM)

Some tips can assist teachers in guiding each pupil to achieve more optimally, with respect to the ability to read well and reading comprehension. Among these 10 specific tips are: (1) teach individualized phonics in context; (2) assist the student to read in proper thought units by covering up words in sentences for clarification; (3) assist…

Although critics persist in attacks on the teaching profession in general and the teaching of reading in particular, both elementary and secondary school reading scores have increased steadily over the past three decades. Even Black and Hispanic students (who still score below the averages for White students tested) have made sizeable gains in…

Provides a cognitive reading guide for the first four chapters of the novel, "Where the Red Fern Grows" (Rawls, 1961), that incorporates teacher-directed whole-class instruction with a student reading guide to equalize instruction for various levels of learners. Ideas for whole-class instruction are contained within the lesson plans. (CR)

This activity book uses the whole language approach to encourage young readers and prereaders to become critical listeners and viewers by comparing different versions of familiar fairy tales ("The Three Little Pigs" and "Beauty and the Beast"). Class activities, educational games, posters, and student activity pages are…

Describes and evaluates several methods for teaching reading that can involve the parent in the child's reading development. Concludes that a program involving paired reading in its purest form is the best method. (SRT)

Describes an approach to content reading instruction that emphasizes both content and process, and encourages reader response in social, affective, cognitive, and metacognitive realms. It begins with the Content Directed Reading-Thinking Activity, followed by the Group Mapping Activity and the Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy. (HOD)