In light of recent concerns in the United States and the United Kingdom regarding the rote and restrictive nature of English literature instruction, this article offers an approach to teaching literature rooted not in knowledge, as literary pedagogy is often conceptualised, but instead in understanding. Reading for understanding extends beyond…

This demonstration introduces and presents an innovative online cognitive diagnostic assessment, developed to identify the types of cognitive processes that readers use during comprehension; specifically, processes that distinguish between subtypes of struggling comprehenders. Cognitive diagnostic assessments are designed to provide valuable…

This examination of the processes in reading comprehension is divided into seven categories. "Theoretical Foundations" reviews some of the research conducted by Bruner, Piaget, and Bloom in the areas of cognition or comprehension processes of young children. "Development of a Spiraling Reading Curriculum" examines a spiraling taxonomy of reading…

A reader's background knowledge (schemata) and purpose for reading have an overriding influence upon the reader's development of meaning. Reading comprehension also involves activating, focusing, maintaining, and refining ideas toward developing interpretations that are plausible, cohesive, and complete. Recent examinations of instructional…

Presenting the story of how discussion became the foundation of a teacher's classroom practice, this book examines reading development in a group of second graders, observing classroom discussions and the transformation of a basal-reading curriculum into one which used literature-study groups. The book reports on close-up classroom observation as…

Traces the theoretical sources of self-questioning instructional research. Summarizes such research in three areas: spelling; reading comprehension; and summarization. Considers important caveats on self-questioning instructional research and practice. Mentions nascent curriculum development that is explicitly based on metacognitive theory and…

Examines advantages and disadvantages of using textbooks as the basis for curriculum and instruction, discussing textbooks as the predominant instructional medium. The article describes attributes of good textbooks and text structures, identifies strategies for improving readers' text comprehension, and notes teachers' role as facilitators in…

Defining reading as a dynamic, interactive process involving the reader in constructing meaning, this guide for the elementary and secondary curriculum was designed to facilitate effective and creative decision making by teachers for (1) integrating reading and writing across the curriculum, (2) developing readers who can independently apply…

Intended to enable teachers and other school staff members to implement the Responsive Reading Program, a comprehension-centered program for kindergarten to third grade children, this guide is divided into a brief introduction and five major sections. The second chapter discusses the theoretical background of the program and the skills or…

Broad and major concerns dealing with reading are set forth in this monograph to provoke discussion and examination by both researchers and practitioners. In Part 1, Kenneth S. Goodman presents a psycholinguistic view of language and reading (within a transformational-generative framework) as essentially a set of processes of recoding, decoding,…

Reflecting diversified views, this National Reading Conference yearbook contains 45 articles in the field of literacy theory and research. Articles and their authors include: "The Myth of Teaching" (J. V. Hoffman); "Reading-Writing Connections: The Relations among Three Perspectives" (T. Shanahan and R. J. Tierney);…