This study investigates the reading engagement of four middle school English learners in their English or English as a Second Language classroom. Students with high levels of reading engagement are those who (a) are motivated to read, (b) use strategies when reading, (c) use reading as a way to construct meaning from texts, and (d) participate in…

The authors provide teachers with a rationale for engaging students in independent reading using a differentiated approach. By profiling types of readers, sharing observational tools, and offering teaching suggestions for each type of reader the authors give practical suggestions to facilitate reading engagement and make independent reading more…

Investigation of the effect of establishing purposes for reading upon reading comprehension showed that neither specific nor general reading directions appeared to affect performance and that purpose-setting directions served to discriminate between intentional and incidental information only for above-grade-level readers.

The Accelerated Reader/Reading Renaissance program (now called Accelerated Reader Best Classroom Practices) is a guided reading intervention in which teachers direct student reading of text. It involves two components. Reading Renaissance, the first component, is a set of recommended principles on guided reading (or teachers' direction of…

Many behavioral theorists have suggested that self-directed activity is central to the learning process (e.g., Dewey, Piaget, Wertheimer). Accordingly, it was predicted that such activity bears a significant positive relationship to the quantity, quality, and variety of responses in a reading lesson. Moreover, it was expected that selected…

The author investigated pupil reading achievement as related to teacher emphasis on individualized instruction, language development, comprehension skills, diagnosis, word attack skills, oral vs. silent reading, and other, not easily classifiable, skills. (MJB)

A functional approach to reading was investigated in seventh grade social studies classes to determine the effectiveness of guiding students in the adaptation of two essential comprehension abilities needed to read the text materials. Specifically, the investigation evaluated the use of reading guides prepared to aid students in the recognition of…

The effects of specific directions on the reading comprehension of sixth-grade students were investigated. Two passages on different topics, each with 20 percent of the sentences relevant to the topic, were materials for two informal tests administered to 92 six-grade students. Half of the students were given specific directions to learn about the…

Poses six unanswered questions in need of research that concern school reading programs. Questions address (1) advisability of a uniform sequential reading series, (2) relative effectiveness of materials, (3) generalists vs. specialists, (4) usefulness of workbooks, (5) permanent assignment of class reading texts, and (6) parental involvement. (TE)

Reading is comprehension, it is a complex network of interrelated skills, and it involves several levels of thinking, but in a holistic rather than in a molecular response to the text. The practice of reading based on this theoretical understanding involves identifying levels of comprehension; noting that levels of comprehending are not strictly…

Discusses the steps teachers can use to create an inclusive reading program for students. Specific exercises teachers can use include undertaking an informal assessment of the students, developing reading groups, creating multisensory activities, creating isolated comprehension skills, and forming lesson outlines. Examining the component parts is…

Children are often turned into deficient readers as a result of their never progressing beyond the first stage of reading--articulation of words from printed page; if provided with an enriched classroom environment, the child will learn to read with little formal instruction. (MM)

The systems approach to learning used in the majority of classrooms today redefines reading as its component skills. Two different approaches developed by teachers to teach reading as the sum of its components are presented. (JN)

The Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) has developed and initially field tested during summer 1969 a Summer Reading Program (SRP) designed to prevent the decrement in kindergarten children's academic achievement caused by the lack of instruction and practice during the summer. Each parent supervised his child at home in structured reading…

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…