Presents an activity used with ninth and tenth grade remedial readers which introduces the students to five patterns in writing that are common in textbooks: listing, sequence, cause-effect, problem-solution, and comparison-contrast. (PRA)

Suggests that readers need to be encouraged to use the text structure when identifying information in a text for later review. They also need to be advised to make summary statements in the margins of their texts when the important information is not explicitly stated in the text. (SR)

Describes how creative mapping (a pictorial version of semantic mapping) helps students organize or recognize organization in expository texts. (SR)

Examines degree to which three types of tasks affect the selection of main points in instructional texts. Finds, on average, type of task did affect the number and kind of selected text fragments, but the variation between the students was large. Suggests findings provide more insight into three ways of identifying main points. (RS)

The study examined the use of expository text structure as a reading and writing strategy with 15 learning-disabled adolescents, 15 normally achieving adolescents, and 15 normally achieving fourth graders. Two reading tasks required students to recognize sequence or comparison-contrast text structure. The third task required students to write…

Describes a method of generating a flow chart which indicates the multiple cause and effect relationships in literature and content area texts. Argues that this teaching strategy aids in the comprehension of difficult text. (RS)

Investigates the effect of vowels on reading accuracy in Arabic orthography. Finds that vowels had a significant effect on reading accuracy of poor and skilled readers in reading each of four kinds of texts. (NH)

A study involving 111 secondary students with learning disabilities investigated differential reading performance on narrative versus expository text. Students had more difficulty with expository text than with narrative text in terms of reading fluency and comprehension. However, effects for comprehension were mediated by the type of question…

Presents five experiments examining the use of illustrations in the comprehension of technical material by students of good to very good reading ability. Concludes that technical content which lends itself to presentation as an illustration will be comprehended better as an illustration than as text and will be comprehended best of all if…

Encouraging teachers to utilize procedures and techniques that help their students become active, willing lifelong readers, this handbook has been compiled to serve as a guide for integrating the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment's (PSSA) definition of reading as a dynamic, interactive process into classroom practice. The handbook…

Examines the differential effects of reading guides on text comprehension and the transfer of strategies learned through the use of the guides to new material. Finds that students using reading guides had higher comprehension test scores and greater transfer than those who did not. (SR)

A study investigated how a knowledge or lack of knowledge of basic text structures, such as comparison and contrast and cause and effect, contributes to the reading process in remedial adolescent readers. By observing a group of graduate students and through the close study of a few adolescent case studies, a researcher attempted to determine if…

A study investigated transfer effects of training below average high school readers in the use of graphic organizers and summary writing on their recognition of compare/contrast text structure. Subjects, 32 high school students with below-expectancy standardized test scores, were placed in two groups: an experimental group (five males and 11…

This article discusses the reading fluency and comprehension problems of struggling secondary students who can read, with assistance, on a fourth-grade reading level or above. Difficulties with vocabulary and sentence construction are described, along with problems with pronoun reference and noun substitutions, metaphor, and conventions of print.…

Analyzes above and below average readers' informational reports, which synthesize both source texts and writer-generated materials. Concludes that general reading ability and success at synthesizing overlap, and that success at synthesis may be related to cognitive factors associated with comprehension, such as sensitivity to text structure. (RS)