Offers Request, the Directed Reading-Thinking Activity, the Expectation Outline, the Prereading Guided Reading Procedure, Word Wonder, and Semantic Webbing as techniques that use many of the basic principles of the directed reading activity while adjusting to the needs of specific materials and students. (FL)

Discusses instructional approaches to content area reading that are described in ERIC documents. Among the areas discussed are prereading activities; strategies to support comprehension as students read; an integrated approach to vocabulary, comprehension, and textbook organization; and kits of materials for integrating reading skills into content…

Guided reading is an important component of a comprehensive literacy program. Using this approach to reading instruction is beneficial to all students, including English-language learners (ELLs). While guided reading is generally used in the early elementary grades, this approach is recommended for ELLs of all ages when appropriate methods and…

Describes how semantic webbing exercises are useful for activating background knowledge, increasing organizational skills, focusing on the topic, and notetaking. (MM)

Written questions and answers lead to original thinking and writing and to better reading class management than does the "directed reading activity" approach to reading instruction. (JM)

Describes a comprehension questioning strategy, based on R. Stauffer's Directed Reading-Thinking Activity, that enhances students' use of reasoning on the basis of prior knowledge. (FL)

Proposes a seven-stage model of direct instruction as it might be applied to a reading skills lesson on predicting outcomes. Discusses each stage of the model: exploration, explication, translation, modeling, guided practice, application, and closure. (FL)

Describes ten practical ideas for classroom teaching at the elementary level, including "roulette" writing, story map raps, and theme cubes. (MM)

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…

Contributors offer suggestions concerning (1) reading aloud with children, (2) community involvement in the reading program, (3) a method for combining the neurological impress method with the directed reading activity, and (4) a technique for structuring instruction. (FL)

Describes how to help children comprehend what they read using an experience-text-relationship method of discussing and reading class material. (MKM)

Discusses the benefits of reading aloud to preschool and kindergarten children. Notes that active participation accounts for many of these benefits. Suggests several interactive story reading strategies, including a Directed Listening-Thinking Activity and shared book experiences. (MM)