In this exploratory case study, the authors employed an "interpretive communities" lens to investigate the ways in which 12 high school English teachers of one district read and reasoned with literary works. Primary data sources were verbal protocol interviews and semistructured interviews. Analysis revealed that the focal teachers…

This paper examines whether model annotations can foster disciplinary literacy in higher education. Using history as a test case, 102 education undergraduates participated in a training and transfer task in which they read two-period documents, and responded to recall and comprehension questions, and to a short essay question requiring historical…

Scientific texts are often multimodal, consisting of both text and illustrations. However, previous research indicates that young readers are poor at using text-and-illustration integration strategies and at in-depth processing of scientific illustration information. This study used an experimental paradigm to teach strategies of illustration…

Reading just one text on any topic, Cummins argues, isn't enough if we expect students to learn at deep levels about the topic, synthesize various sources of information, and gain the knowledge they need to write and speak seriously about the topic. Reading a second or third text expands a reader's knowledge on any topic or story--and the why…

In this article, we draw clear distinctions between generic reading comprehension and disciplinary literacy in history. We argue that disciplinary reading restores agency to the reader, changing the typical relationship between text and reader, in which knowledge flows down from one to the other. Sourcing, for example, enjoins readers to engage…

In this new edition of their groundbreaking book "Strategies That Work," Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis share the work and thinking they've done since the second edition came out a decade ago and offer new perspectives on how to explicitly teach thinking strategies so that students become engaged, thoughtful, independent readers.…

Concerns about the ability of post-secondary students to read scholarly materials are well documented in the literature. A key aspect of reading at the deeper level expected of these students is connecting new information to prior knowledge. This study is based on an activity where students were explicitly required to make such connections as part…

Supporting the reading development of college students is the responsibility of all professors. As experts in the field, with experience navigating and interpreting readings in a particular discipline, professors are obligated to think of themselves as master artisans apprenticing their students to the craft of reading. Texts in all subject areas…

In the first year of a pilot program, 18 New York City schools are digging into new ways to accomplish two objectives emphasized in the common-core standards: (1) engage students in increasingly complex texts as they move through school; and (2) help them conquer literacy skills specific to disciplines such as history and science. Spearheaded by…

This study examined the effects of three types of reading interventions on the science text reading of secondary students with learning disabilities (LD). Twenty 10th-grade students with LD participated in the study. Using a within-subjects design, the relative effects of three different instructional approaches--text reading, vocabulary learning,…

Examined the different influences of comprehension-skill and domain-knowledge components on learning from text. Found that learning from an expanded text with explicit causal relations was related to reading comprehension skill rather than prior knowledge, whereas learning from an unexpanded text that did not spell out causes was a function of…

The secondary school teachers can make a difference even if they do not have formal training in teaching reading in the content areas. Teachers can support improved reading comprehension by introducing model approaches that encourage interaction with text, which helps students gain insight into their own reading strategies and also increase their…

Focuses on guiding readers toward making informed decisions about choosing appropriate paths through and beyond the text. Points out that this type of reading program can work as well for intermediate grade readers as it does for primary readers. (ET)

Provides a rationale for learning-with-text experiences for primary-grade children; lists 10 general approaches to foster primary-grade content area reading; and offers a sample lesson incorporating these approaches that promotes comprehension of text and content matter. Suggests that trade books, textbooks, realistic fiction, and other print…

Recommends teaching both mental imagery (an unobtrusive, natural text processing strategy) and summarizing (an efficient text reorganization strategy) to students who do not spontaneously use them. (NKA)