Intended to be used as an assessment instrument in conjunction with North Carolina's Basic Education Program, this communication skills notebook reflects an instructional program that is developmentally appropriate for first and second graders. The notebook contains resource materials which include strategies for teachers to use in evaluating…

A study determined whether instruction on story elements within rich contexts can increase students' understanding of the characters' traits and motives, their comprehension of stories, and their ability to write causally coherent stories. Instruction was organized around an "anchor" (a story rich with embedded information presented on…

For this practicum, a program of multimedia peer dramatic presentations was developed to improve the vocabulary skills of middle school students. Each week for 10 weeks a target group of 18 randomly selected students viewed 5 short video skits (produced by broadcast arts students) which were designed to introduce and define new vocabulary terms;…

A study investigated the effects of using topic-related pictures to build and activate readers' schemata as a means of increasing background knowledge and, consequently, reading comprehension. Subjects, two special education middle school students with low scores on standardized reading comprehension and vocabulary tests, were taught to interpret…

Outlining an alternative to the basic English classes that segregate slower learning students from their peers, this booklet describes the English Skills Program for ninth graders at Parkway North High School in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Following an introduction explaining the origins of the program, the first two sections describe the program's…

A study investigated the effects of computer-assisted instruction on the vocabulary development of college students enrolled in a developmental reading program at a two-year college of a metropolitan, midwestern university. The subjects were 41 entry level students, 98% of whom had never used computers as an instructional tool. The students were…

A group of elementary teachers enrolled in a graduate class in language arts at the University of North Dakota explored how children construct their own meanings as they interact with texts. One teacher regularly read to her 20-month-old grandson, and excerpts from the journal she kept reveal that his understanding of a specific text evolved to…

This study examined the relationship between teacher education students' scores on basic skills admission tests and graduating seniors' scores on the National Teacher Examinations (NTE) at Eastern Kentucky University. The 1981-82 basic skills test scores for 262 teacher education students were compared with their NTE scores taken in 1984-85 during…

College-bound students who score poorly on the American College Test (ACT) exam (16 or below) are usually required to take an examination that measures the ability to read and interpret college level material since this ability is a significant variable in the prediction of academic success. Many of these underprepared students need specific help…

To determine whether students enrolled in one Ontario region's early French immersion (FI) programs developed English reading skills comparable to their non-FI peers, a monitoring process was begun in the first FI program year (grade 3) in which formal English instruction is given. The FI cohort and a control group matched for mental abilities and…

Ways in which semantic mapping can be used for general vocabulary development, as a prewriting and prereading activity, as a postreading activity, and as a study skill strategy are presented in this teaching guide. The first two sections provide an introduction to semantic mapping, and outline the three most common uses of semantic mapping as an…

The Brody Reading Method integrates four components to teach reading and written-language skills to elementary and secondary school students with reading difficulties. The program begins with syllabication for decoding, and then reinforces and expands those skills by providing structured application in content area reading, spelling, and…

Intended for reading teachers, this resource book provides a variety of practical suggestions and materials for motivating students to read. Chapter one deals with removing roadblocks to reading, including such things as low expectations, a poor self-concept, lack of self-control, lack of flexibility, and lack of time and of interest. Chapter two…

Drawing upon Piagetian and Vygotskian developmental theories, philosophical examinations of the nature of argument and explanation, analyses of classroom and Socratic dialogues, and cooperative classroom structures, this paper examines how cooperative learning can influence individual knowledge acquisition. The paper first reviews some of the…

The concept of scaffolding can be used as a framework to argue that a "rich interpretation" in child language is needed in the area of early literacy learning. Child language is the reading-like text language of "prereading" kindergarten children. Two threads (internal and external) of the scaffolding process have been identified. The external…