A study determined if the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA) method would raise levels of critical thinking in students. Subjects, 20 third-grade students, used the DR-TA for 30 minutes each day for a period of approximately 8 weeks. Subjects were pre- and posttested using the Thinking Skills Assessment and the Reading Attitude Inventory.…

This study investigated the effects of story mapping on reading comprehension. Subjects, 20 second-grade students of below-average reading achievement, were presented over a 10-week period with activities in story mapping utilizing a variety of story map frames. The Metropolitan Achievement Test was administered as a pre- and posttest. Results…

This project was developed and implemented to increase the target students' phonemic awareness in order to be able to make sense of the alphabetic principle and become successful independent readers. The objectives for the project were for 8 of the 10 target students to score 80% on the posttests of rhyme detection, blending, and the Yopp-Singer…

A practicum addressed the cognitive and affective needs of underachieving fifth grade students in a suburban school in southwest Florida. Twelve fifth grade students (the target group) were paired with same age tutors who provided supplemental reading instruction four times a week over a 12-week period. They also participated in weekly…

A 3-year project developed a procedure to achieve the objectives of using miscue analysis in the reading program in a way that is economical in time, applicable to more than one student at once, and usable as a teaching tool as well as a diagnostic tool. Three separate trials, in 1975, 1976, and 1977, refined and developed the procedure until it…

A practicum designed to help prospective teachers explore instructional approaches that differ from their intrinsic beliefs about how reading should be taught is described in this report. Particular emphasis was placed on using the whole language approach, as opposed to the more traditional basal reader or skills oriented approaches to reading.…

A practicum targeted a need to develop and improve student attitudes toward reading for fun and pleasure. The target group was 30 second-grade pull-out Chapter 1 reading students identified as primarily non-leisure-time readers based on a student/teacher interview questionnaire. A pre- and post-reading attitude survey was administered. Parents of…

A practicum addressed the problem of reading comprehension skills in low achieving students by monitoring their progress utilizing precision teaching. Based on referrals from classroom teachers, guidance counselors, and parents, five students ranging in ability levels from kindergarten through grade 8 were accepted into the program for one or more…

A practicum was conducted to determine the effectiveness of parental reinforcement at home of the reading skills taught at school. Parents of first grade Chapter 1 students, participated for a 10-week period with the first week devoted to training parents to use the materials and the paired-reading concept. Scores on the reading assessment test…

To improve reading/writing skills in a target group of 10 first-grade students, an intensive writing curriculum was implemented over a period of 10 weeks. The program included numerous strategies to improve beginning skills: using concrete objects for classification; using comic strips to illustrate sequencing; daily practice on correct posture…

A practicum was implemented to provide low-achieving first-grade students with individualized instruction that would teach strategies to assist them in becoming independent readers. Secondary goals were: (1) to implement and develop a Chapter 1 Reading Improvement Plan targeted for low achieving first graders; (2) to improve reading self-esteem;…

A practicum study was conducted to raise the reading comprehension level of students at least one grade level by using Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI), and to determine the kind of student who would most benefit by the use of CAI. A control group of 35 students and three experimental groups of 19 computer students, all in fourth or fifth…

A practicum was developed which implemented an alternative to using a standard reading textbook, by using the newspaper as a learning tool to supplement the existing reading program over a 12-week period in a first grade class. The program centered around a collection of techniques and strategies used to motivate and increase young children's…

A practicum was conducted to improve reading comprehension in classroom performance with the basal reading series and on norm-referenced tests. Subjects included a fifth-grade class of 28 students who were paired with another fifth-grade class as peer teachers. New skills were taught and practiced with the target population early in the week. On…

This practicum was designed to allow first graders the opportunity to read and write in a more natural and authentic manner than that permitted by using the basal reading series as the basis for reading instruction. The first grade reading program was transformed from a basal-oriented approach to a whole language approach. Through the use of…