The purpose of this meta-analysis was to assess the overall effects of automaticity training of fundamental literacy component skills (i.e., letter names/sounds, individual words) on reading fluency and comprehension. Another purpose was to assess if the effects of automaticity training varied for reading fluency and comprehension. We identified…

Concludes that the letter close procedure is an effective instructional tool for most elementary children and becomes increasingly effective with each successive grade level. (Author)

Suggests using the cloze procedure as a means of helping poor readers develop critical reading skills. (RB)

Describes how teachers in Minneapolis, Minnesota, stimulate their students to write creatively using two computer programs: the Word Weaver, which is designed to encourage students to use ordinary words in fresh, new ways, and Image Spinning, which students use to create word combinations to form poems. (MBR)

Contends that the cloze procedure is an effective technique for use in teaching specific reading skills as well as a test of rate and comprehension. (FL)

Describes ways in which the cloze procedure is used for instruction rather than for testing. (MKM)

Procedures used in a computer program for the preparation of cloze text material at the elementary level are described. Input design and printout formats are given. (RAO)

Reports on a study that examined children's understanding of written direct and indirect speech by testing reading comprehension of two passages using cloze tests and referent location tests. Found that children have difficulty in interpreting written direct speech, especially when it contains a variety of pronouns. (ARH)

Research on the use of linguistic context (prediction of a word by using the text) in reading showed that children were better at using the preceding context and good readers used the suceeding context better. The study could not determine whether good readers used better strategies or were more skillful at using strategies. (Author/MJL)

Thirty learning disabled children were randomly assigned to two conditions focusing on sentence comprehension: a sentence anagram/word grouping treatment and a more traditional sentence study treatment. Subjects in the sentence anagram/word grouping condition had significantly higher cloze scores. (Author/BW)

Describes a pilot study that employed the cloze technique to assess student writing and to investigate writing generally. (DD)

Research indicates that a special version of the cloze procedure is a reliable test of reading comprehension. (RB)

Indicated that subjects with reading disabilities gave significantly fewer correct responses on cloze tasks, but they took the same time as subjects without reading disabilities. (RB)

Presents information gathered as to how children make use of reading skills and what effects factors in the text, such as vocabulary, syntax, layout, and even illustrations, can have on the child's response. (RB)