Many forms of wildlife are being threatened by changing ecological conditions, pollution, pesticides, human carelessness, and conditions. Efforts are being made to preserve endangered wildlife species. This document provides a partial listing of endangered and threatened species of mammals, birds, and reptiles in North America and its nearby…

If a student is to develop reading comprehension, he must possess and activate a number of linguistic and cognitive skills. He comes to the text with certain expectations and uses a cyclical process of sampling, predicting, testing, and confirming to understand it. The overall goal of reading instruction is to produce motivated, independent,…

The textbuilding conventions of courtship narratives told by older women of contrasting ethnic minorities are examined. Listener responses to the stories indicate that storytelling conventions are not shared or understood by all listeners. It is proposed that membership in different speech communities based on factors such as age, sex, ethnicity,…

A number of issues in the reading curriculum need studying, analyzing, and synthesizing. Among them is the emphasis on definite scope and sequence in phonics versus individualized reading. A second issue in the teaching of reading involves the use of precise, measurably stated objectives versus flexible, general goals. A related issue involves…

A substantial amount of literature in education and psychology supports the notion that reading combined with writing enhances comprehension and recall. To investigate how various writing tasks affect thinking, a pilot study was conducted, which produced results consistent with the hypothesis that text engagement (student interaction with written…

Two studies were conducted to compare the advance organizer and concept elaboration models of instruction with a task analysis approach. It was hypothesized that the concept elaboration group would achieve significantly higher than either the advance organizer group or the task analysis group on concept learning and principle learning. A pilot…

Intended to help classroom teachers, curriculum developers, and researchers, this book provides current information on theoretical and instructional aspects of main idea comprehension. Titles and authors are as follows: "The Confused World of Main Idea" (James W. Cunningham and David W. Moore); "The Comprehension of Important…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 28 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the usefulness of peer-shared reading information in primary-grade reading groups; (2) development and evaluation of a sustained silent reading program in…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 5 titles deal with the following topics: (1) the influence of background knowledge on non-native students' memory for reading passages, (2) the development of a reading textbook with a teacher's manual for English as a second…

This study examined the need to develop reliable and valid procedures for screening large populations for possible speech and language problems and the use of the Fluharty Preschool Speech and Language Screening Test (FPSLST) as such a device. The test was administered to 260 preschool children, ages three to six. There were 166 Blacks and 94…

A study examined how word recognition automaticity develops and its relationship to the acquisition of comprehension skill. Two different methods for teaching reading were used: (1) a global method using the Houghton Mifflin basal reading program, and (2) a code method using the New Reading System, which emphasizes word decoding skills along with…

Six eclectic basal readers were evaluated to determine what basal readiness programs are teaching kindergarten and early first grade children. Each lesson was analyzed to discover the main purpose of instruction as stated in an objective or skill and the actual requirements placed upon the child during instruction. Using the recommendations from…

Four issues of the 1985/86 newsletter of a preparatory school for learning disabled (LD) students examine the following topics: myths and realities concerning LD students at the college level: a support group for LD students at a large state university; a developmental mathematics program; a competitive basketball program; positive personality…

Children's literature, when used appropriately in conjunction with textbooks, can become a powerful teaching tool that builds relevant prior knowledge, capitalizes on the student's skill in reading narrative, engenders interest and motivation, and consequently promotes a deeper understanding and appreciation of the content in both trade books and…

This manual covers study behavior and attitudes and specific study techniques for health profession students, including scheduling, comprehension, memory, and test-taking techniques. Much of the approach emphasizes self-discipline and honesty. Focus is on how students in a health professions program can make their study time more productive and…