Forty third graders divided into average and below average reading skill groups were given a story comprehension task that consisted of two conditions, listen through and think aloud. Average readers generated significantly more explanatory inferences and comprehension performance as measured by story recall was significantly better for both…

Describes a literature-based activity designed to engage elementary level students in higher-order thinking skills. (MM)

Presents an overview of introspective approaches to gaining insight into cognitive processing behavior and traces their application in classical psychology, cognitive psychology, second language learning, and reading. Considers the implications of these approaches for the study of the reading process. Posits criteria for designing process-oriented…

The study compared effects of two ways of making text more explicit for learning disabled (LD) children: by adding supportive information or asking inference questions at the ends of episodes. Adding elaborative content enhanced story understanding while asking inference questions was not more effective than the explicit version of the text alone.…

Argues that reading instruction should be understood as an integrated instructional program simultaneously juxtaposing learning styles, modality dependencies, and visual literacies. Argues, too, that teaching the "basics" of reading includes mastery of the fundamentals, involvement leading to verbal interaction, critical reading, and synthesis…

Discusses how teachers can provide classroom experiences that lead young readers to react critically to what they read. Suggests ways to focus attention and target evaluative responses to literature. (MM)

Focuses on the practice of critical reading in the English classroom. Argues that what is done in the classroom should be grounded in critical reading activities and be connected to the real lives of students. Demonstrates such a teaching approach in the context of a literature class studying Henry James's novel, "Washington Square." (HB)

Relationships among low-level reading skills, sentence verification, and error detection were studied using 91 fourth graders. Error detection was best predicted by subjects' tendency to generate inferences while reading. Literal text comprehension depended on low-level reading; strategic reading competence reflected a tendency to go beyond…

Describes the use of student-generated questions to enhance learning in a freshman-level communication skills course. As class exercises, students were asked to develop questions about an assigned reading, to analyze the questions, and to map the questions to identify important textual elements and various levels of thinking about the text. (DMM)

It is argued that more attention should be paid to first-year graduate students' specific difficulties with literary texts and their linguistic techniques that deviate from standard usage. An instructional model is proposed, with examples appended. (Contains 16 references.) (LB)

Presents procedures for student-guided critical analyses of current topics in biology. (ZWH)

Introduces a way for teachers to capture the interest of elementary students using fictional literature in social studies instruction. Argues that, by helping students learn the importance of history, they tend to pay better attention. Suggests that the use of historical fiction helps students become better critical readers and thinkers. (DSK)

Suggests teachers and students develop a critical aesthetic in approaching the picture book genre. Discusses three picture books concerning the Australian environment to illustrate that guiding students to read for information alone disregards the aesthetic value of the genre. (NH)

Describes one college professor's teaching practice that enables diverse students to bring their own personal and cultural background to bear upon Shakespeare's plays, thus helping them develop their readings of the plays. Her approach involves decentering Shakespeare and encouraging students to read the texts critically from their own cultural…

Provides a theoretical framework for designing a children's literature course that requires preservice teachers to critically analyze literature in ways that are personally meaningful. Suggests how preservice teachers can read children's literature intensively rather than extensively. (PA)