In the action research project report, the teacher researchers found that many kindergarten and first-grade students did not have the reading readiness skills to be reading at their benchmark target. The purpose of the project was to improve the students overall reading ability. The dates of the project began on September 8 through December 20,…

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of a companion text on the comprehension, vocabulary acquisition and fluency of students during teacher read alouds. Data were collected over a period of six days in an upper-middle class suburban school district in northern New Jersey. The students involved in the study consisted of eighteen…

A study compared the effects of words in isolation (WI) and words in context (WC) instruction on the word learning and retention of word meanings of 11 average readers from a multi-age classroom (grades 4 and 5). To investigate whether WC instruction improved a child's ability to use context cues to determine the meaning of an unknown word…

Past research shows the imperative nature of students having a high knowledge of vocabulary, particularly as it relates to their level of reading comprehension. This is especially true in the areas of science and social studies because of the nature of the subjects and their corresponding texts. Students' ability to retain and recall vocabulary…

This report describes a program for improving reading comprehension through cooperative learning. The targeted population consisted of elementary and middle school students in growing middle class communities, located in northern Illinois. The problems of reading comprehension in content areas were documented through teacher observation and…

This study attempted to determine if reading ability and grade level differences accounted for differences in the word associations and written syntactic structures of 180 selected students. The study also investigated the relationship of semantic associations and syntactic complexity. An oral, free word association test was used to measure…

Students who lag behind in vocabulary commonly experience academic failure. A student's vocabulary knowledge directly impacts reading comprehension. To improve comprehension, students need exposure to a variety of literature and opportunities for meaningful practice of vocabulary they encounter daily. Vocabulary is developed through a variety of…

The major purpose of this thesis was to show that it is possible to develop a theoretically sound and empirically based rationale for determining the systematic introduction and use of vocabulary in middle-grade reading instructional material. A major portion of the research for this thesis consisted of a content analysis of six current reading…

This study investigated two approaches to vocabulary development with intermediate grade Menominee Indian children. Specifically, the differences in reading comprehension, writing vocabulary, reading vocabulary, and attitudes toward reading of students were examined. The two methods compared were (1) the Native American Culturally-Oriented…

This practicum sought to improve reading vocabulary and comprehension in fourth-grade students by using comic books 30 minutes per day as a supplement to the regular basal reading program. High-interest comic books were used by a class section of 18 students in the experimental group, for a period of four months. Another class section of 20…

This study examines gains in comprehension and vocabulary as measured by the "Gates MacGinitie Reading Tests" among students in grades two, four, and six, placed for reading instruction according to three systematic determinations of measured instructional level and students not placed other than by teacher judgment. No significant differences…

This study examined the effects of three reading programs on the reading comprehension and vocabulary of 895 fifth graders and sixth graders. One program used a conventional basal reader; the second used the supplementary, behaviorally referenced Brentwood Educational System for Testing (BEST) and conventional basal reading materials; the third…

A study determined if using specific reading strategies would improve students' grades in science. Subjects, 21 fifth-grade students in an urban area school, studied four units of science--two units using the strategies outlined in the series teacher's manual, and two units using semantic mapping, cloze exercises, graphic aids, and vocabulary…

This action research project focused on causes for reading deficiencies of the targeted eighth grade students and how those deficiencies affect students' achievement in language arts, science, and mathematics. The targeted population consisted of 30 eighth grade students in a middle-class community located in a suburban area of a large Midwestern…

This report describes a program implemented to improve reading comprehension in the content areas. The targeted population will consist of students in grades two, three, four, and five, in five midwestern schools, four public and one private. The problem of poor comprehension will be documented through test scores, parent and student surveys, and…