Argues that reading specialists' lack of success in persuading content area teachers to help their students read and study texts in social studies, science, and mathematics is a result of reading specialists' lack of careful thought about text structures. Discusses the text structures of textbooks in these content areas. (RS)

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

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)

Discusses how to create a profile of students' abilities to apply document strategies (locate, cycle, and integrate strategies). (SR)

Discusses a variety of software programs which will assist middle school through college teachers in teaching text structure to their students. Notes that these programs represent a departure from traditional programing style--they allow the person who uses information technology to combine the roles of producer and consumer. (RS)

Describes a game that helps middle grade students develop awareness of the five major ways authors present and tie content information together. (SR)

Discusses how two questionnaires helped a middle school teacher find out what strategies her students used to choose books and whether they were making successful choices. Presents teaching suggestions based on the results of the questionnaires. (SR)

Describes a methodology for teaching the complex prose structures common to nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature. Identifies modifying structures, conditional structures, and periodic sentences as stumbling blocks for students. Argues that students should be taught the effect of these structures on the meaning of both the sentence and the…