Describes a way to teach summarization that can be applied to all content areas, and explains the factors that make it effective. Includes written guidelines to follow as the class learns how to write summaries. Notes that a formal test of these classroom procedures showed that repeated references and generalization were both effective in…

Relates the process of tutoring a gifted high school student. Asserts that his problems are not unique: bright students often have the same difficulty learning from expository text as average or below average students, and they can be as disorganized as everyone else. Suggests that high schools should offer instruction in content area reading.…

Introduces the Directed Questioning Activity (DRA), a teacher directed questioning strategy to be used in class with subject matter textbooks containing unfamiliar or difficult concepts. (RS)

Describes effective projects that made students effectively read scientific materials in the physics content area. Suggests using trade books in science to enhance student learning of basic physics concepts and comprehension of technical reading matter. (KHR)

Shows that students can be made aware of their "illusion of knowing" text material by having them read a three-paragraph factual passage with a carefully inserted phrase near the end which contradicts the main point of the passage. Notes that few students recognized the contradiction and that discussion afterward raised awareness of the…

Describes the suggested use of three types of reading/study guides (K-W-L, Selective Reading Guide-O-Rama, and Levels of Comprehension) which can be used with students at all levels of academic and learning proficiency to help them read their textbooks with understanding. (RS)

Two articles look at effective practices with the learning disabled. The first, "Facilitating Mainstreaming through a School-Wide Study Skills Program" (Gayle Smith), stresses one skill each month. "Semantic Feature Analysis: An Interactive Teaching Strategy for Facilitating Learning from Text" (Candace Bos and Patricia Anders) offers a method for…

Describes how the attitudes toward textbooks of students enrolled in a study strategies class underwent change as they worked with a particular psychology textbook. Notes that the students wrote to the author, who in turn wrote back. Argues that students' affective responses to textbook reading may be the most undervalued dimension of content area…

Describes the use of content area reading miniclinics, with sessions lasting from 2 to 10 days on a particular skill or related skills, that have proven useful at a junior high school. (MKM)

Describes a content area reading course developed for technology majors at Texas Southern University (Houston). (FL)

Describes "Review in the Round," a student-centered review process that combines discussion and cooperative learning. Describes its purposes, preparation (outside class), and the review procedure. (SR)

Describes and evaluates a reading/study skills program at Ferndale High School, Ferndale, Washington. Notes that the high school has changed dramatically over the four years of the program, and its reading/study skills program continues to be an integral part of this evolution. (RS)

Because teachers are asking for specific suggestions to help students apply comprehension skills and read content material, a mechanism that assists students in acquiring and applying specific comprehension skills as they read content texts is being investigated. The mechanism is called marginal gloss because learning activities are placed in the…

Since the 1940s, teachers in upper grade classrooms have been asking students to "survey, question, read, recite, and review" chapters in their content area textbooks. Known as SQ3R, many teachers have long believed that this study strategy helps students make sense of unfamiliar informational text, or that it at least provides a structured…

The document presents the theoretical background and empirical research supporting lessons which teach study skills to adolescents, especially those with learning disabilities. A section presenting the psychological rationale for training study skills considers the nature of studying and its psychological demands, studying as an active process,…