Extensive research over the years indicates that there are at least five essential components teachers can include in their classroom to help their students comprehend and learn. These features include: (1) giving background and connecting to students' prior knowledge; (2) providing a strong vocabulary program; (3) setting aside ample opportunity…

Research indicates that prior knowledge is an exceptionally important determiner of reading comprehension. Many of the prereading strategies currently used to assist reading comprehension do not help teachers identify what students already know about a topic. In an effort to integrate instructional assessment with prereading instruction, the…

An interactive approach to teaching French second-language reading comprehension is described. The method emphasizes involving the readers in the comprehension process and encouraging them to draw on prior learning to create hypotheses about the text's content. A four-stage instructional process is outlined. (MSE)

Discusses the effect of previous knowledge on reading comprehension. Suggests reading instruction methods that evoke the readers' experiences, or schemata, relevant to the material. (HTH)

Discusses techniques for helping English-as-a-Foreign-Language students activate their prior knowledge for effective top-down processing to facilitate reading comprehension. Three activities are discussed: the use of a semantic map, questioning, and previewing. (Author/VWL)

Jackdaws are collections of interesting artifacts that provide information about a particular subject, period, or idea, and build background and interest in works of literature for children. Jackdaws are easy to construct: practically anything that is related in some fairly direct way to a piece of literature and that can aid a student's…

A guide for teachers of second language reading offers ideas for using authentic texts as instructional materials. The guide focuses on how to teach students to become strategic readers and use their background knowledge to enhance comprehension. Schema theory is proposed as a framework for approaching reading tasks, by providing relevant pre- and…

The strategies of active surveying and active skimming are previewing techniques that may enable high school students to discover independently the macrostructure of expository materials. Research has indicated that advanced knowledge of overall discourse structure improves reading comprehension by serving as a framework for organizing new,…

Reading is a complex activity that involves both perception and thought. Reading consists of two related processes, word recognition and comprehension. Learning to read is an important educational goal. Research has shown that there is a great deal of transfer from learning to read in one language to learning to read in a second language. This…

Presents four Directed Reading-Thinking Activities (DR-TA) for use in secondary social studies classrooms. Defines a DR-TA and shows its applicability in teaching students effective study habits when reading social studies textbooks. Offers strategies intended to engage students with their textbooks, highlighting interior monologues and grouping…

This teacher's guide is designed to assist in teaching an eight-level supplemental reading series to help students learn and practice a variety of reading comprehension strategies. It explains the format of the eight student books; provides a complete scope and sequence chart for the series; and includes a brief introduction to reading…

Twenty-six specific classroom activities or procedures are suggested for teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to individual adults or small groups. These activities include notes on use of visual aids, games and other group activities, out-of-class activities, oral and written language exercises, integration of language skills (listening,…