This case study involved a deep reading intervention, creating a way to bridge theories of contemplative practice and mindfulness into classroom practice. Participants were graduate students enrolled in Reading Literacy and Content Methods, a capstone course for teacher licensure before their practicums. The students were led through a deep…

It is commonly accepted in the academy that developing a critical thinking capacity and related capabilities will make students more effective thinkers and writers, and that these are desirable traits for graduates to have no matter what path they take after graduation. While most academics agree that critical thinking is an essential component of…

This paper describes the structure and activities of READ (Reading Effectively Across the Disciplines), a pilot initiative to improve students' critical reading skills, disciplinary literacy and academic success. READ employs a multimodal design that consists of faculty training in disciplinary literacy instruction and curricular enhancement,…

This paper adds to the nascent literature on teaching research methods and what students learn from courses and assessment. Postgraduate students are often confronted with large amounts of reading, and the content of material can be intimidating. Convincing them also to engage critically with readings is even more difficult. We report on a…

Prepared by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, this volume contains approximately 50 percent of the total number of reading exercises administered during the assessment. Exercises are ordered by release number, which indicates the major theme, exercise within the theme, and the exercise part for multiple-part exercises. In addition,…

A study explored whether the use of a study guide would improve students' comprehension of content area material. Two groups of students in an eighth grade social studies class were involved: students in the control group received the usual instruction--the chapter was read orally and discussed in class--while students in the experimental sample…

Intended for all teachers in middle and secondary schools, this handbook provides samples and models to help develop activities that improve students' reading skills. A practical guide, it answers specific questions about reading and suggests activities that teachers can adapt to the specific texts and concerns of their subject area. Each section…

A review of several classroom observation and survey studies of comprehension instruction, content area reading for homework, and aspects of reading assignments raises the question of whether enough is being done in Irish schools to develop critical reading competency. It appears from these studies that many students are being left to their own…

Using a reading lesson designed for advanced university students in Brazil, the author discusses different types of exercises that can help students become more active readers and be more critical about the reading materials. The author distinguishes between passive and active reading tasks and argues that active tasks are more beneficial because…