Reading comprehension is the goal of reading, and making inferences is vital. Authors usually expect readers to make multiple types of inferences, including anaphoric, background knowledge, predictive, and retrospective. Common core assessments include all of these, yet instructional materials focus mostly on only one type, retrospective. This…

To understand complex disciplinary texts, students need to possess a rich store of background knowledge. But what happens if students don't have that knowledge? In this article, Doug Buehl explores frontloading strategies that can bridge the gap between what students know and what they need to know to comprehend a disciplinary text. He outlines…

The ability to read independently is essential for success in high school, college, and most careers. Students with disabilities must be able to comprehend literally and inferentially to meet the demands of the general education curriculum and navigate the complex political, social, and economic environment of the 21st century (King- Sears &…

The activities described in this article, Prediction Path and Quotation Cafe, are adapted from the IRA book "Building Reading Comprehension Habits in Grades 6-12." They highlight the reading comprehension habit of making inferences and predictions, which can be used across content areas and grade levels. In creating this toolkit of activities, the…

This study aims to examine a) whether vocabulary knowledge, captured in the Vocabulary Levels Test (VLT), is related to the performance on the five types of reading comprehension items tested in TOEFL, i.e., Guessing Vocabulary, Main Idea, Inference, Reference, and Stated Detail; and b) whether EFL learners with different levels of vocabulary…

Using hand gestures is a great way to get students engaged in learning and more focused on reading comprehension strategies. This article presents descriptions of simple hand motions that teachers can use to help their students predict, question, clarify, and summarize while reading.

Within a response to intervention (RTI) framework, students are typically identified as "academically at-risk" if they score below a specified cut-point on a benchmark screener. Students identified as at-risk are provided with an intervention intended to increase achievement. In the following technical report, we describe a process for…

Despite over 25 years of research supporting the instruction of comprehension strategies, it seems that such instruction is not readily found in many classrooms or basal readers, resulting in students that struggle with analyzing and comprehending text. This is particularly true in the primary grades. Originally designed with seventh grade…

The authors investigated absolute and relative metacomprehension accuracy as a function of verbal ability in college students. Students read hard texts, revised texts, or a mixed set of texts. They then predicted their performance, took a multiple-choice test on the texts, and made posttest judgments about their performance. With hard texts,…

Contends that talking about texts in a conversational environment, during and after reading, allows students to think about a text and think about their thinking. Explains "conversation sparks," which push students to make a variety of type of comments that include predictions, questions, clarifications, and inferences. Concludes that giving…

Describes a whole-class strategy called Imagine, Elaborate, Predict, and Confirm designed to improve reading comprehension and writing among middle school students. Reviews research and describes modeling, prereading, reading, post reading, and follow-up stages for classroom procedures. Includes sample lessons for science, literature, and social…

The use of computers to build diagnostic inferences is presented in two contexts: (1) closed world, exemplified by the space shuttle launch monitoring system; and (2) open world, represented by computerized diagnostic testing of reading comprehension. The analysis shows that the closed world provides a substantially cleaner environment within…

Rita is a Pacific island grade 2 teacher in a local village school. She has established a 90-minute daily literacy block in which she focuses on literacy-related activities. As she sits with her students during the literacy block, she realizes some of them are having difficulty comprehending text, and many are unable to retell the stories…

This article discusses different approaches to reading instruction for EFL learners based on theoretical frameworks. The author starts with the bottom-up approach to reading instruction, and briefly explains phonics and behaviorist ideas that inform this instructional approach. The author then explains the top-down approach and the new cognitive…

This report describes 12 studies dealing with the knowledge monitoring component of metacognition. It is assumed that knowledge monitoring is basic to other metacognitive activities, such as evaluating learning, selecting appropriate strategies, or planning, because distinguishing between what students know and do not know ought to be a…