Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach, this secondary analysis investigated the relations among classroom dialogic interaction, fifth-grade students' reading achievement, and teachers' dialogic stances. First, quantitative analyses of time-sampled lesson observations and state reading test scores suggested that the more class time…

Focusing on English picture books, this study comparatively examined the effects of dialogic reading with empathetic questioning and standard dialogic reading on the reading outcomes of elementary school students. It evaluated eye movement metrics and measured reading comprehension among 54 fifth-grade elementary school students in China. By…

Teachers who are knowledgeable about the basic structure of the English language incorporate this knowledge into their instruction. In this study, the authors explored a similar relation between knowledge of print exposure and planning for a grade 5 classroom. The personal reading experience (print exposure) of 106 preservice teachers was measured…

The primary aim of this study was to explore the relationship between teachers' instruction and students' vocabulary and comprehension in grades 3-5. The secondary aim of this study was to investigate whether this relationship differed for English monolingual and Spanish-English bilingual students. To meet these aims, we observed and…

This article problematises a broad consensus in favour of importing popular culture into classrooms as a means of engaging pupils, transforming interactional norms and facilitating pupil understanding. A literacy lesson in which an English primary school teacher invoked the televised talent show, "X factor", in organising the class to…

Core reading programs provide the curriculum and guide the instruction for many classroom teachers. The purpose of this study was to conduct a curriculum analysis of comprehension instruction in the five most widely used core reading programs. The recommended comprehension instruction in grades 3, 4, and 5 was examined to answer four questions:…

Reports from research and the larger educational community demonstrate that too many students have limited ability to comprehend texts. The research reported here involved a two-year study in which standardized comprehension instruction for representations of two major approaches was designed and implemented. The effectiveness of the two…

This study investigated the effects of different versions of Web-based instruction focused on text structure on fifth- and seventh-grade students' reading comprehension. Stratified random assignment was employed in a two-factor experiment embedded within a pretest and multiple posttests design (immediate and four-month delayed posttests). The two…

Examines the effects of teaching individual word meanings and deriving word meaning from context. Concludes that instruction in individual word meanings effectively teaches specific word meanings, training in deriving meaning from context improves students' ability to derive word meanings, and practice in either method leads to higher levels of…

Reports on a study designed to determine the effects of preteaching vocabulary of differing levels of importance to a text using two different methods of instruction on children's comprehension of basal stories. Concludes that, in general, the results supported the growing evidence for the "direct effect" of instruction on children's text…

Compares the effects of two prereading instructional treatments on students' comprehension of narrative and expository texts. Indicates that the teacher-directed condition is more effective than the interactive condition at promoting comprehension, and that both treatment conditions are superior to no prereading instruction at all. (MG)

A study investigated the singular and combined effectiveness of phrasing and repeated readings (practice) on the recall of idea units and narrative categories of fifth grade good and poor readers, concluding that practice rather than phrasing proved to have the most facilitating effect on poor readers' recall of idea units but not narrative…

Reports on an intervention study that trained teachers to be explicit when teaching low reading groups to use reading skills strategically. Concludes that use of the training techniques produced significantly greater student awareness of what was taught but no significant gains in achievement. Copies of the teacher and student rating scales used…