Examines the word-reading strategies of a sample of second- and third-grade students in normal classrooms, focusing on the students' relative reliance on decoding versus sight-word associations. Suggests that lack of efficient decoding skills will begin to take a toll on reading comprehension by grade 3. (SR)

Study guides for learning-disabled students can improve their comprehension of textbook readings. Guidelines for developing, using, and modifying study guides are provided. A sample study guide on early Latin American civilizations is given, followed by a sample test covering the study guide material. (Author/JDD)

Studies on reading comprehension for bilingual students are reviewed to examine the importance of first-language mastery prior to second-language acquisition. Immersion program factors analyzed include automaticity, plateau effects, need for a variety of sociolinguistic settings, oral facility versus cognitive academic linguistic abilities, and…

Discusses the need for reader orientation to the text and procedures for working through discourse to encourage selection and organization of main ideas. Students can summarize more effectively if they process and reformulate the text first. Sample text and student summmaries are appended. (Author/LMO)

Explains why proficient readers may find it difficult to understand written directions. Indicates direct instructional strategies for helping such readers handle procedural text independently. (NKA)

Examines native Hebrew- or Arabic-speaking students' translations from English into their native language as a means of evaluating reading comprehension. Results show that mistranslations in vocabulary, expressions, and utterance-level were good indicators of lack of comprehension. (Author/CB)

Describes 10 ideas for using recitation to strengthen reading comprehension, including: (1) what did I just say? (2) one thing I learned today; (3) student-generated test questions; (4) guess what will be on the test; (5) where is it located in the book? (6) teacher show and tell; (7) inquiry training; and (8) what's the big idea? (SKC)

Analyzes four informal reading inventories to determine the text type of each passage, whether narrative passages are well formed, and whether expository passages are well organized. Finds almost half the narratives poorly formed. Concludes that the lack of continuity in text type and organization could result in children's comprehension scores…

Notes that many students enter higher education without basic skills for understanding texts, and presents three strategies for framing and answering questions about text to enable students to engage actively with the content. (SKC)

Investigates the effects of four types of prereading activities on comprehension of Australian fifth grade students: (1) irrelevant tasks (control); (2) pictorial introductions to the subject; (3) content-directed questions; and (4) free-association to the passage's titles. Determines that, although the pictorial introduction group performed best,…

Aphasic (N=15) and non-brain-damaged adults were administered the Nelson Reading Skills Test (NRST). NRST items requiring complex inferences were more difficult than items requiring simple or no inferences. Passage dependency level was higher compared to other tests, suggesting that the NRST more validly measures aphasics' multiple-sentence…

Discusses text presentation in computer-based instruction and reviews research that has been done in this area. Topics discussed include length of text, amount of text presented at one time, rate of text presentation, color, text comprehension, text structure, reader comprehension, and new directions for computer-based text. (23 references) (LRW)

Study investigates the nature of verbal interactions which occur between parents and kindergarten children as they read favorite (familiar) and unfamiliar books. States that favorite stories allow children to become more involved in the story and attend to print, while unfamiliar stories provide for expanded schemata which may enhance meaning…

A study evaluating a self-questioning summarization strategy analyzed the learning and retention of social studies materials by learning-disabled and underachieving seventh- and eighth-graders (N=8). All students learned and maintained the summarization strategy (sometimes with individualized modifications) which effectively increased retention.…

Explains the difference between everyday thinking and academic thinking. Maintains that children who experience academic learning problems may rely too much on everyday thinking skills. Relates examples of this problem in reading, mathematics, and science. (JDH)