The purpose of this study was to investigate how reciprocal teaching affected vocabulary acquisition and reading comprehension in four at-risk students in a fourth grade inclusion classroom. A single subject research study method was used to measure the baseline of each student. Subsequently, students were assessed daily after receiving two…

Describes a Silent Directed Thinking Activity that was based on an abridged version of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" and used with eighth-grade remedial classes. (HOD)

Describes how an elementary teacher can plan and manage directed reading, including selecting appropriate children's books, preparing a reading guidesheet for each, and conducting conferences with each student to reinforce reading comprehension and vocabulary development. (SJL)

Describes ten practical ideas for classroom teaching at the elementary level, including "roulette" writing, story map raps, and theme cubes. (MM)

This paper addresses the value and components of developing prereading skills to improve students' reading comprehension. Prereading activities are seen to prepare the student to both read and comprehend the story and involve cognitive engagement with ideas crucial to comprehension of the reading material. Teachers are urged to develop the…

This book suggests reading activities and teaching strategies to encourage students' success in the following middle school and secondary school content areas: business; driver education; English, speech, and journalism; art, music, and theater; foreign languages (French, Spanish, and German); health; home economics end industrial and vocational…

In this study, two different approaches to the teaching of reading were designed and presented over an eight-week period, then evaluated according to student scores on three standardized tests. After a pretest, nine first-grade classes were randomly assigned to one of three groups: literature, concept development, or control. In the literature…

The selected activities in this bulletin are divided into three categories: games and strategies for primary grades, those for intermediate grades, and activities for the slow or reluctant learner. Among the activities and games contained in the first part are those which deal with: reading readiness; visual and auditory discrimination; concept…

Argues that new vocabulary words should be presented in concept clusters and related to prior knowledge to facilitate organization in memory. Presents a sample lesson for science vocabulary. (HOD)

Sixty-six grade six students were subjects in a study to evaluate the effectiveness of a direct instruction paradigm for teaching children the reading comprehension skill of main idea identification. Both experimental groups (strategy and basal) and the control group received eight lessons of 30 minutes each. All instruction occurred over a…

In teaching the moderately retarded student to read, it is essential to develop a basic survival reading vocabulary consisting of words necessary to remain alive, as well as to retain one's personal dignity. The individual must be able to recognize and respond appropriately to common signs of instruction and direction within the community. From a…

The effects of vocabulary instruction on word knowledge and reading comprehension were investigated. Average students learned some word synonyms under all conditions except a noninstructional control condition. However, learning disabled students acquired fewer meanings across all conditions and seemed to require more direct instruction in order…

Although critics persist in attacks on the teaching profession in general and the teaching of reading in particular, both elementary and secondary school reading scores have increased steadily over the past three decades. Even Black and Hispanic students (who still score below the averages for White students tested) have made sizeable gains in…

Two of the most widely used reading programs in the country, the 1976 Houghton Mifflin Reading Series and the 1976 Ginn Reading 720 Series, are analyzed in this volume to determine the methods they suggest for teaching reading comprehension. Eight sections contain the following information: (1) a short description of some of the surface features…

Describes an approach to content reading instruction that emphasizes both content and process, and encourages reader response in social, affective, cognitive, and metacognitive realms. It begins with the Content Directed Reading-Thinking Activity, followed by the Group Mapping Activity and the Vocabulary Self-Collection Strategy. (HOD)