Reading  Comprehension

Currently, there are many different views and opinions on reading comprehension.  There have been numerous studies and projects in the past few decades that have been dedicated to finding the best strategies for teaching reading comprehension.  Many have become outdated and have been replaced by newer and more knowledgeable frameworks.  The material found on this webpage is some of the most current information that is being used in reading comprehension.  However, that is not to say that this is the only information available or that it is the best information available.  This webpage is intended for educational purposes only.  The information contained here was very interesting and thought provoking for me.  I hope that as you read and study this abundance of information, that you also find it interesting and helpful.
                                                 HAPPY READING!

Informative Websites:

 Learning to Read is a web page that is dedicated to "improve the quality of reading instruction through the study of the reading process and teaching techniques."  There are many helpful current tips and strategies available on this web page for teacher use.  This site contains the following elements:
    Balanced Literacy - has many links to reading models, activities, and strategies for reading
    Interesting Research - has links to the importance of current research
    Interactive Lessons - has links to numerous reading lessons
    Professional Organizations and Publications - has links to reading organizations/publications
    Book Publishers and Authors - has links to various publishers and author web pages
    Keep Informed - has links to additional information sources to keep updated on reading
    Recommended books of the month - describes many professional books on reading
    Reading Forum Discussion Group - invites you to discuss reading with other professionals

Rand Reading Study Group is a web page that discusses a draft report entitled Reading for Understanding: Towards and R&D Program in Reading Comprehension commissioned by the Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement The purpose of the research is to find "a framework for a program of research in reading comprehension."  This is the initial draft of the report, so the research does not stop here.  It will be continuously revised while the program is being implemented.  This webpage includes discussion from eight experts and  a response to the initial draft report.  Visitors are invited to comment on the report as well.  A Hot Topics section will include key issues that are being debated.  Also, a conference will be held in summer of 2001 to receive feedback from the report.  A section of the report reads "We still have much to learn about how children become good comprehenders, who to design and deliver instruction, and how to prevent comprehension failure."  Reading this report will keep teachers up to date on current reading comprehension research, thus enabling them to use the best strategies with their students.

The English Channel  is a webpage that has eight sections on reading comprehension.  The quote on this page says "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body" - Joseph Addison.  That is a powerful statement.  Reading comprehension is the exercise of the mind.  The eight sections discussed on this web page are:

• skimming and scanning
• non-verbal signals
• structure of texts
• structure of paragraphs
• punctuation
• author's viewpoint (inference)
• reader anticipation
• summarizing.

LD Online  is a website guide to learning disabilities.  A section of this website is dedicated to teaching techniques.  The teaching techniques that this link will take you to is specifically for reading comprehension.  There is an article entitled Strategy Instruction For Increasing Reading Comprehension by Edwin Ellis that was reprinted with permission from Teaching Adolescents With Learning Disabilities.  The article describes in detail an eight stage process for teachers to follow when teaching students how to use the reading comprehension strategy called paraphrasing.  Although this article was written for teachers who have students with learning disabilities, I think that all teachers would benefit if they follow this process.

Muskingum College - Center for Advancement of Learning has a learning strategies database that contains general-purpose learning strategies for reading comprehension.  For example, there is background information on reading comprehension (that includes metacognitive behaviors and troubleshooting), purposes of reading comprehension strategies, advantages of reading comprehension strategies, and specific reading comprehension strategies.  I found the specific reading comprehension strategies section the most interesting and useful for teachers.  This section contains information on topics such as:

• ESL/EFL students
• challenging materials
• books on tape
• group activities
• content reading
• foreign language
• improving motivation
• strategies for vocabulary

Lightspan.comis a webpage that contains informative articles and lesson plans for teachers and tips/study strategies for students.  This is a useful site for a teacher of any subject.  To find specific information on reading comprehension, just enter the language arts section and click on Reading & Literacy.  You can also do a keyword search of the site by typing in reading comprehension and you will receive a list of results.  This site is very useful and practical for busy teachers.

Education Week: Teacher Magazine  is a website that contains helpful articles for teachers.  The specific article included here is entitled Reading: A search for Meaning. This link provides you with the text format of this article which must be saved to your hard drive  or disk before you can view it.  The URL for the Education Week homepage is www.edweek.org.  The article here discusses a "technique that teachers can use to help students derive more meaning from their textbook readings."
 

Informative Articles:
 

• An article entitled Reading in the content areas:Unlocking the secrets and making them work from the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy addresses the topic of textbooks and content area reading.  The key idea discussed in the article is to get students to monitor their own reading comprehension.  The author had her students use the check and line method that is quick and effective.  The article describes the process she went through and the results.
• Reaching Older Readers is an article from NEA Today that provides tips for teaching older readers.  The following strategies are discussed: text processing, remedial instruction, reading aloud, notetaking, and cooperative groups.
• Intervention in School & Clinic journal has an article entitled Coop-Dis-Q: A Reading Comprehension Strategy.  This article describes the Coop-Dis-Q (Cooperative Discussion and Questioning) strategy and how it can be applied in the classroom.
• Collaborative Strategic Reading as a Means to Enhance Peer-Mediated Instruction for Reading Comprehension and Content-Area Learning is an article contained in the Remedial and Special Education journal.  It describes the three stage process of how to implement and use CSR.  It also contains specific information about Middle School readers.
• Education Week has an article entitle A Primary Subject Goes Secondary that describes a high school chemistry teacher who now incorporates reading strategies into his classroom.  It describes why he decided to include reading as part of his curriculum and how his district enacted a comprehensive reading plan.
• The Reading Teacher has two articles about reading comprehension.  The first article is entitled Teaching comprehension through literature: A teacher-research project to develop fifth graders' reading strategies and motivation is included because fifth grade students will soon be entering the adolescent stage and the reading skills they bring with them are extremely important.  The second article is entitled Supporting a strategic stance in the classroom: A comprehension framework for helping teachers help students to be strategic is included as an aid for teachers.  The framework is a three phase process and could be useful to any teacher.

               Bibliography of Articles on Reading Comprehension

Baumann, J., Hooten, H., & White, P. (Sept. 1999). Teaching comprehension through
    literature:  A teacher-research project to develop fifth graders' reading strategies
    and motivation. The Reading Teacher, 53(1), 38-51.

Dowhower, Sarah. (April 1999). Supporting a strategic stance in the classroom:
    A comprehension framework for helping teachers help students to be strategic.
    The Reading Teacher, 52(7), 672-688.

Dunn, Jacqueline. (Oct. 2000). Reading in the content areas: Unlocking the secrets
    and making them work. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 44(2), 168-170.

Gauthier, Lane. (Mar. 2001). Coop-Dis-Q: A reading comprehension strategy.
    Intervention in School & Clinic, 36(4), 217-220.

Green, Michelle. (Feb. 2001). Reaching older readers. NEA Today, 19(5), 8-9.

Manzo, Kathleen. (April 2001). A primary subject goes secondary.
    Education Week, 20(31),  13-17.

Vaughn, S., Klingner, J., & Bryant, D. (April 2001). Collaborative strategic reading as a means
    to enhance peer-mediated instruction for reading comprehension and content-area
    learning. Remedial and Special Education, 22(2), 66-74.