This study compares the English reading comprehension and ethical awareness of 7th grade students, when using either a directed reading-thinking activity (DR-TA), or a more traditional approach, involving tales of virtue based on His Majesty the King's teaching concepts. A randomized control group pretest-posttest design was used for the study,…

The purpose of the study aimed to investigate the effect of the Readers Theater (RT) training on elementary school students. In particular, changes in the students' English reading comprehension before and after the RT show, comparison of the students' responses to English learning, especially English reading, the students' opinions on the RT…

A study investigated whether comprehension of a text could be enhanced by careful structuring of the lesson elements surrounding it. One group of ten second grade children received a reading lesson as prescribed in a basal series that directed attention to irrelevant content while failing to highlight consistently important story elements. A…

Discusses a study that explored the effect of a guided reading strategy on the short- and long-term comprehension of disadvantaged students in a seventh-grade geography class. (DD)

Reports a study that compared the effects of two teacher-directed prereading instructional procedures (directed reading activity versus story grammar/structured overview story mapping) on elementary students' literal and inferential reading comprehension. Story mapping produced better comprehension among third graders but no differences in…

Concludes that literal and inferential comprehension scores were not higher for sixth-grade students taught by moral dilemma questioning techniques than for those taught by the directed reading activity method or those participating in regular classes. (FL)

Reviews research on elementary school teachers' feedback to students' miscues in basal and content area reading. Describes the sustained feedback paradigm that developed from the Direct Instruction Programs. (Author/HOD)

Investigates the amount of time teachers devote to directed reading activities and reading skills instruction; the amount of time devoted to components of each approach; and which instructional strategies are used in each approach and with what frequency. Finds that the majority of time allocated for reading lessons is devoted to reading skills…

A study evaluated the effectiveness of various models constructed to account for how children read and comprehended a story presented in a directed reading lesson. A commercial directed reading lesson was revised to introduce information related to the story and to help the children form a "map" of the central story content. Data were…

Investigates the effectiveness of a direct instruction model for teaching children to comprehend anaphoric relationships. The results provide further support for the efficacy of a direct instructional model for teaching children reading comprehension skills. (HOD)

The traditional practice of having students read or respond to questions in turn is questioned. Research suggests that teacher effectiveness improves when teachers clearly explain the task at hand before children respond. (PP)

Sixty-six grade six students were subjects in a study to evaluate the effectiveness of a direct instruction paradigm for teaching children the reading comprehension skill of main idea identification. Both experimental groups (strategy and basal) and the control group received eight lessons of 30 minutes each. All instruction occurred over a…

The effects of vocabulary instruction on word knowledge and reading comprehension were investigated. Average students learned some word synonyms under all conditions except a noninstructional control condition. However, learning disabled students acquired fewer meanings across all conditions and seemed to require more direct instruction in order…

Analyzes elementary teachers' interactions with students during guided reading of basal reader selections to determine the extent to which the interactions promote students' metacomprehension abilities. Finds that teachers assumed most of the responsibility for students' comprehension themselves rather than conducting the lessons in a manner that…

A study examined differences between a prescriptive individualized approach to literacy instruction in adult basic education (ABE) settings. Six ABE classrooms participated in the study with four continuing traditional literacy instruction and two providing whole language-oriented literacy instruction. Average attendance per session was 12 adults.…