Reading for Meaning Fostering Comprehension in the Middle Grades

Reading comprehension is of great concern to many Americans, as evidenced by the mandate in most states today for graduation standards in reading and for assessments aligned to those standards. This book focuses on what has been learned from research about fostering reading comprehension in the middle grades, providing a broad overview of current educational and psychological research about effective strategies for teaching reading to middle grade students. Following an introduction by the editors, essays in the book are as follows: (1) "The Mind in Action: What It Means to Comprehend during Reading" (Paul van den Broeck and Kathleen E. Kremer); (2) "Comprehension Instruction in Elementary School: A Quarter-Century of Research Progress" (Michael Pressley); (3) "Explicit and Implicit Instruction in Comprehension" (Janice A. Dole); (4) "Balancing Literature and Instruction: Lessons from the Book Club Project" (Taffy E. Raphael); (5) "Building Student Capacity to Work Productively during Peer-Assisted Reading Activities" (Lynn S. Fuchs and Douglas Fuchs); (6) "A Vocabulary Program to Complement and Bolster a Middle-Grade Comprehension Program" (Michael F. Graves); (7) "Classroom Talk about Texts: Is It Dear, Cheap, or a Bargain at Any Price?" (Donna E. Alvermann); (8) "Literacy Lessons Derived from the Instruction of Six Latina/Latino Teachers" (Robert T. Jimenez); and (9) "Beyond Balance: Goal Awareness, Developmental Progressions, Tailoring to the Context, and Supports for Teachers in Ideal Reading and Literacy Programs" (Jere Brophy). (NKA)