Creative dramatics or child-oriented dramatic play is a basic educative process that draws upon the learning strategies developed in children's play and relates them to classroom learning tasks. As a structured play process that encourages children to explore the world in ways familiar to them, creative dramatics relates new experiences to old…

This report examines how the making of inferences plays a role in the comprehension of narratives. The report poses and discusses seven questions: What are inferences? What functions do they perform? What is required to make inferences? What processes are involved? What kinds of inferences are there? How can readers' inferences be assessed? Can…

THE INDIVIDUALIZED METHOD OF TEACHING READING IS BEING USED IN SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY, AND MORE AND MORE SCHOOLS ARE BEGINNING TO TRY IT. THE MONOGRAPH WAS PREPARED TO HELP THOSE INTERESTED IN INDIVIDUALIZED READING TO UNDERSTAND THE METHOD, THE PROBLEMS WHICH MAY ARISE, AND HOW IT COMPARES, IN DETAIL, WITH THE METHOD OF GROUP READING.…

Most methods of literary analysis operate at so high a level of abstraction that the basic meaning is obscured. In the classroom the temptation is to ignore the physical text and to focus attention and discussion on secondary issues which arise out of the text. A distinction needs to be made between reading literature and interpreting or analyzing…

This monograph is the fourth in a series of semiannual reports of research related to reading in secondary schools. The five papers in the monograph are concerned with the pedagogical and research implications of reading comprehension. Specific topics dealt with include (1) a phenomenological perspective on the reading process, (2) the role of…

The reader has replaced the text as the central figure in the teaching of literature. Three techniques that psychologists and educational researchers believe produce better reading comprehension are: the concept of schemata, or the kind of mental outline a reader has when perceiving something; the acquisition or development of an appropriate…

To comprehend effectively, students must be taught how to analyze the particular comprehsnsion tasks before them in order to determine the specific thinking processes necessary for the solution of these tasks at the appropriate level of difficulty. Rather than teaching specific comprehension skills in an abstract, formulistic manner separated from…

This evaluation was undertaken in an effort to provide data concerning the effectiveness of the Tucson Early Education Model, a Follow Through Model sponsor and reading instruction program which advocates the language experience approach. Seventy-three children were tested according to a miscue analysis model, in order to identify those…

Undergraduates learned to read words spelled with novel letters under phonics or whole-word conditions through several overlearning trials, and vocalization latency of word recognition responses was measured. Whole-word instruction resulted in word recognition mechanisms similar to fully automated mechanisms, but phonics instruction did not.…

Presents firsthand observations of a successful twenty-day reading program involving one student who was transformed from a passive, reluctant, indifferent learner to one who acquired ownership for his learning and empowerment over the reading process.

Suggests that writing helps reading comprehension only if the writer is aware of the relationship between reading and writing and if the writing is purposeful. Presents three purposeful writing activities. (ARH)

Describes an approach to teaching the elementary school curriculum using heuristics, which develops children's critical thinking skills. (SRT)

Explains how journal dialogues (student interaction with author) act as an intermediate step between purely personal responses to a text and formal interpretations for a public audience and how they encourage students to explore and develop ideas for essay writing. (HOD)

Focuses on (1) the disparities between reading and writing instructional methodologies, (2) the misconceptions students seem to draw if these disparities are not brought to their attention, and (3) the recursive relationship between written and oral language. Contrasts the relationships between main ideas and details in reading processes with…

Argues that an understanding of the psycholinguistics of the reading process can provide a foundation for instructional decision making in secondary and college reading classes. Discusses factors affecting reading comprehension. Provides exercises to help students use prior knowledge about the nature of language to overcome reading difficulties.…