Discusses instructional approaches to content area reading that are described in ERIC documents. Among the areas discussed are prereading activities; strategies to support comprehension as students read; an integrated approach to vocabulary, comprehension, and textbook organization; and kits of materials for integrating reading skills into content…

The traditional approach to reading in the content areas has been to teach reading skills only in reading class, usually using literature or narrative selections and expecting transfer of those skills to content texts or other expository materials. The transfer of those reading skills has been such a disappointing experience that even students who…

Describes how to construct a reading guide to help students understand mathematical word problems. (MKM)

Suggests using the Guided Reading Procedure as a prereading activity and as a postreading activity when students have read different materials. (MKM)

Shows how a content area teacher can help students relate prior experiences to the new information to be gained through the reading assignment. (MKM)

Gloss, or marginal notations in a text, and other similar techniques can be used by reading specialists both as they attempt to develop meaningful content area reading programs and as they review what is already known before attempting to learn new information. For example, several social studies teachers began their gloss activities by…

Materials used in a one-day conference on teaching reading comprehension skills are summarized in this publication. Contents consist of three articles on teaching the comprehension skills, informal reading inventories in science and in geography, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address with comprehension questions, a checklist for the evaluation of teaching…

Describes an adapted form of the "Directed Reading Thinking Activity" which guides students through reading assignments with content materials containing an abundance of factual information and details that need to be remembered. (RL)

Intermediate grade teachers can help students deal with content area reading problems by using the directed reading activity (DRA) approach. Prior to using this approach the teacher needs to decide the major concepts to be emphasized in the content selection, the vocabulary terms to be taught, the specific skills to be taught to aid in…

A workable plan to help social studies teachers develop the competencies they will need to teach students to read social studies materials in grades K through 12 is provided in this document. A directed reading lesson is included which suggests practical techniques for improving reading skills. A unit sample and some suggested techniques for…

This booklet begins with a rationale for a strategy for structuring reading activities in the English classroom in order to facilitate growth in reading ability and to accommodate students with varying initial levels of achievement. Specific suggestions are provided for prereading activities, the reading itself, and postreading activities. A…

Discusses a study that explored the effect of a guided reading strategy on the short- and long-term comprehension of disadvantaged students in a seventh-grade geography class. (DD)

The Effective Reading in Content Areas (ERICA) teaching model comprises four stages: preparing for reading, thinking through information, extracting and organizing information, and translating information. Aspects to consider in the first stage include the preparation of ideas, text, and vocabulary. Two strategies can be used to promote reflection…

A holistic approach to teaching reading can assist the underachieving student. The holistic approach includes each of the communication arts in teaching strategies: listening, writing, reading, and oral language (speaking), each of which interacts with the content area. By using the student's own natural abilities to predict, confirm, comprehend,…