This article presents five instructional frameworks demonstrated by research as being effective in teaching reading comprehension: (1) The Scaffolded Reading Experience (SRE); (2) Questioning the Author (QtA); (3) Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR); (4) Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS); and (5) Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction…

In seven experiments, college or high school students studied texts containing either adjunct application or adjunct factual questions. Students were then tested for their ability to apply the presented concepts. Results suggested that the type of adjunct question had little influence on students' later ability to apply presented concepts.…

College students read two passages. Four groups answered questions requiring either a summary, a new example of the concept, a list of critical attributes of the concept, or identification of a new example. The "identify post-question group" showed the greatest accuracy in classifying new examples. (Author/MH)

The purpose of this paper is to present classroom teachers with a succinct, practical explanation of how to teach reading comprehension. An approach to the systematic teaching of comprehension which is based on practical interpretation of current research and theory is presented. Examples are given that will assist any teacher who is responsible…

The effect of supplementary questions on learning from textual materials was investigated in a sample of 94 college juniors. Each subject was given a 1,500-word passage describing the concept of measurement. One treatment group was asked to identify characteristics of the concept; another was asked to identify examples from the text; a third…

Shows how a scale of questions can be used to develop and assess children's ability to comprehend information presented through different modalities and media. The scale's five levels, which indicate increasing difficulty in comprehension, are association, classification, seriation, integration, and extension. (Author/DB)

Learning activities that are associated with programed materials can be applied to learning from ordinary text; in fact, there is no essential difference between programed and ordinary text. Active response so important to programed learning can be controlled in textual materials by carefully defined adjunct aids such as word lists, underlining,…

Reviews some notions that have influenced the generation of comprehension questions, and describes a study that compared the knowledge sources third-grade students drew upon in answering text questions with the assumptions underlying the question hierarchies represented. (HOD)

Presents excerpts from a discussion in an English-as-a-Second-Language classroom to illustrate the role of group discussion in assessing reading comprehension and shaping realizations through a type of scaffolded instruction. Discusses the "stepping stones" technique with a classroom transcript illustrating its use. (nine references) (Author/CK)

The literature of reading theory and research suggests a number of key factors involved in the comprehension process. In simplest terms, comprehension is the process by which an individual actively generates meaning from some linguistic input. Five factors of reading comprehension have been identified through research: vocabulary knowledge, the…

Presents a method for improving reading comprehension through direct instruction of inductive reasoning. Students gather clues to personality of characters as play progresses and from these arrive at an overall generalization concerning the complexities of the character. (SRT)

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 21 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) creativity as a mediating variable in inferential reading comprehension; (2) teacher questioning and student response interaction during portions of reading…