DOCUMENT RESUME CS 010 739 ED 337 762 Reading: Middle and Secondary. Special Collection TITLE Number 7. ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication INSTITUTION Skills, Bloomington, IN. Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), SPONS AGENCY Washington, DC. PUB DATE 91 CONTRACT RI88062001 85p.; Published in cooperation with EDINFO Press. NOTE ERIC ClearingMuse on Reading and Communication AVAILABLE FROM Skills, Indiana University, 2805 E. 10th St., Suite 150, Bloomington, IN 47408-2698 ($5.95 plus $2.00 postage and handling). Information Analyses - ERIC Clearinghouse Products PUB TYPE (071) -- Collected Works - General (020) MF01/PC04 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Computer Uses in Education; *Content Area Reading; DESCRIPTORS Cooperative Learning; *Family Involvement; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools; Reading Aloud to Others; Reading Comprehension; Reading Diagnosis; Reading Improvement; Reading Material Selection; Reading Writing Relationship; Secondary Education; Two Year Colleges; Vocabulary Development Trade Books IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT This ERIC/RCS Special Collection contains 10 or more Digests (brief syntheses of the research on a specific topic in contemporary education) and FAST Bibs (Focused Access to Selected Topicsannotated bibliographies with selected entries from the EPIC database), prlviding up-to-date information in an accessible format. The collection focuses on reading in the middle and high school, and includes material on reading aloud to students, reading-writing relationships, reading across the curriculum, improving rerling comprehension, computers and reading instruction, selecting reading materials, family involvement, and reading assessment. The collection also includes information on content area reading, cooperative learning and reading, trade books in the classroom, administrators and the reading program, and vocabulary instruction. The material in the special collection is designed for use by teachers, students, administrators, researchers, policy makers, and parents. A profile of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills (ERIC/RCS), an order form, and information on a computerized search service, on searching ERIC in print, on submitting material to ERIC/RCS, and on books available from ERIC/RCS are attached. (RS) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** -14.r.,teV..1t,"1,142,,,tt,\`telirk'fftAt-Atkitwotio, . ..:, ,. :- - r -- 9'7 _ U S. DIPARTVENT Of EDUCATION errficeo. Educat.onat Research end Improvement ED4CATION1L RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTE R tERICI dOcument nil been reproduced is Of iffianaitIO" recen,,d from in* De4OI orvnatmb 4 C M Or Chingos ?titre been mad. to .motove titproddvCItort ought y .n that doe t opet.ont Pornts of vtiv mint dO not niettisordit tiptitent olftetif Dr POSMOn 01 pOlity DE P.; Man Clearinghouse on Reading PRESS and Communication Skills Oct. , Reading: M'cUle Secondary IIM25 Press in cooperation with I ERIC I Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills Published 1991 byt EDINFO Carl B. Smith, Director Smith Research Center, Su Be 150 2805 East 10th Street Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana 47408-2698 In coopetation with ERIC Clearinghouse on Raiding and Communication Skills Director Carl B. Smith, ERIC (an acronym for Educational Resources Information Center) is a national network of 16 clearing- houses, each of which is responsible for building the ERIC database by identifying and abstracting various educational resources, including research reports, curriculum guides, conference papers, journal articles, and government reports. The Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication Skills (ER1C/RCS) collects educational information specifically related to reading, English, journalism, speech, ttnd theater at all levels. ERIC/RCS also covers interdisciplinary areas, such as media studies, reading and writing technology, mass communication, language arts, critical thinking, literature, and many aspects of literacy. This publication was prepared with partial funding from the Office of Educational Research and Improve. ment, U.S. Department of Education, under contract no. R188062001. Contractors undertaking such projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their judgment in professional and technical matters. Points of view or opirgons, however, do not necessarily represent the official view or opinions of the Office of Educational Research and improvement. Acknowledgements We want to acknowledge the valuable contributions of several of the ER1C/RCS professional staff: Nola Alex, Digest Editor; Michael Shermis, FAST Bib Editor; Warren Lewis, Assistant Director, Publications; and Carolyn McGowen, our Office Coordinator. ii Table of Contents 41 Introduction v-viii Digests 1-11 Increasing Comprehension by Activating Prior Knowledge 1-3 Schema Activation, Construction, and Application 5-7 Content Area Textbooks: Friends or Foes? 9-11 13-74 FAST Bibs Introduction 13 Content Area Reading in Secondary Education: An Update 15-17 Cooperative Learning and Reading 19-21 Computers and Reading instruction Grades 6-12 23-25 Administrators and the Reading Program 27-29 Trade Books in the K-12 Classroom 31-33 Reading Aloud to Students 35-37 Reading and Writing Assessment in Middle and Secondary Schools 39-42 Reading-Writing Relationships 43-46 Vocabulary Instruction in Secondary Education 47-50 51-54 Eye Movements and the Reading Process informal Reading Inventories 55-58 Reading Material Selection 59-62 Content Area Reading in Secondary Education 63-66 67-70 Reader Response 71-74 Reading in the Two-Year College 75-76 A Profile 77-78 Computer Search Service 79-80 ERIC in Print 81-82 Submitting Material to ER1C/RCS 83-85 Books Available from ER1C/RCS 86 Order Form 5 ill ER1C/RCS Special Collection 7: Reading---Middle and Secondary Levels Collections? What Are ERIC/RCS Special offering a variety of Digests and FAST Bibs Each ERIC/RCS Specie/ Collection contains ten or more Digests are brief and importance In contemporary education. ERIC viewpoints on selected topics of interest topic. FAST Bibs (Focused done on a specific Access to Selected syntheses of the research that has been Digests entries from the ERIC database. Both and FAST Topics) are annotated bibliographies with selected accessible format Bibs provide up-to-date information in an that can be used quickly and effectively by teachers, are intended as a resource Special Collections Our Digests may be consulted for a students, administrators, researchers, policy makers, and parents. The viewpoint on, the research in an area, while the may be used as the FAST Bibs summary of, or a particular available in the ERIC database on a subject of interest start of a more extensive look at what is READINGMIDDLE SCHOOL AND HIGH SCHOOL focuses on reading at the middle school and high school levels. Collection The material in this Special overlap, we have also included one Because the interests of high school and junior college readers No. 5, by Margaret Haining Cowles). Reading in the Two-Year College (FAST Bib bibliography on Reading Aloud to Students for a long timethe importance of Recent research has confirmed what many teachers have known themselves. Reading aloud has benefits in reading aloud to students, even those who can and do read well attitudes toward reading. It provides opportunities to terms of instruction and also for developing positive language development. introduce students to literature they might not read for themselves and encourages of hearing a passage, or art entire book, Discussions often arise quite naturally from the shared experience discussion but also for writing and further read aloud. Reading aloud can provide a stimulus not only for (FAST Bib No. 49, Reading of this collection silent reading. An annotated bibliography on this topic is part by Jerry Johns and Joelle Schlesinger). Aloud to Students, Reading-Writing Relationships the past few years have focused on the complex connections over research and instruction Literacy entitled Reading-Writing Relation- in this collection is FAST Bibs between reading and writing. One of the of documents and articles that are on this Jerry Johns and Roberta L Berglund have selectri a number ships. interlinked developmental processes. subject. Much of the research views reading and writing as the topic of many documents in the ERIC Teaching writing and reading in an integrated fashion is for teachers by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and database, and of a number of volumes developed Language Arts for Gifted by Becky Alano; Teaching the Novel, Communication Skills. Among these books are by Roger Writing across the Curriculum, by Susan Davis and Jerry Johns; and Middle School Students, Sensenbaugh. Reading across the Curriculum discipline. Thus not only English teachers but teachers Reading is needed for the mastery of almost every involved in teaching reading. Two of the annotated of mathematics and science and social studies are the a sample of some of the material available on this topic in gives Special Collection bibliographies in this No. 26, and Content Area Reading Education, FAST Bib (Content Area Reading in Secondary ERIC database No. 60). FAST Bib in Secondary Education: An Update, for high ERIC/RCS contain a variety of reading and writing activities Two recent volumes published by understanding: comprehension, critical thinking, and subject-matter st:hool students that foster reading Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing, by Mary Morgan and Michael Shermis; and A High School Student's Bill of Rights, by Stephen Gottlieb. One of the Digests in this Special Coliection has the intriguing title Content Area Textbooks: Mends or Foes? Pat Cousin discusses some of the problems students with learning difficulties have with textbooks and and change of design. some of the approaches to solving these problems through adaptations, revisions, Improving Reading Comprehension Readers rely on their prior knowledge and previous experience when trying to comprehend written materiaL According to Alvarez and Risko, it is this organized knowledge that is accessed during reading that is referred to as schema (plural, schemata). Readers make use of their schema when they can relate what they already know about a topic to the facts and ideas appearing in a text. The richer the schema is for reader will understand the topic.' (ERIC/RCS Digest Schema Activation, Construc- a given topic the better a tion, and Application, by Marino C. Alvarez and Victoria J. Risko). Mother Digest in this cokction is entitled: Increasing Comprehension by Activating Prior Knowledge. The authors, William L. Christen and Thomas J. Murphy, discuss a variety of strategies for increasing comprehen- sion of written material The research they review indicates that, for learnirg to occur, new information must be integrated with what the learner already knows. Thus activating prior knowledge (if the student has some) whatever is already known) are important aspects of increasing or building a knowledge base (adding to reading comprehension. Computers and Reading Instruction What impact is the use of computers having on the teaching of reading? At the primary level, a number of software programs are being used for beginning reading instruction. What is being done at the middle-school and high-school levels? Can computers help to develop better comprehension of what is read? To find out, FAST Bib No. 55, Computers and Reading Instruction Grades 6-12, may be useful The book Computers in English/Language Arts, by Sharon Sorensonavailable from ER1C/RCSmay also be of interest. Selecting Reading Materials Two FAST Bibs may be especially useful in the area of choosing appropriate materials for particular readers: Trade Books in the K-12 Classroom, by Jerry Johns and Susan Schuengel; and Reading Material Selection: K-12, by Ruth Eppele. Family Involvement We think of involving parerds in their children's education mainly in the early years, but they can play an equally important role in encouraging their junior-high and high-school children's learning as well Many books provide suggestions for parents: lists of books (for reading aloud or recommending to teens), community resources, and activities to undertake with children and adolescents. However, many of the parents most in need of such information do not consult books available in book stores or the public library. A series of booklets for parents, copublished by ER1C/RCS and the International Reading Associa- tion, supplies information in an easy-to-read, user-friendly format. Two of the booklets are intended for parents of middle-school and high-school students: You Can Encourage Your High School Student to Read, by Jamie Myers, and Encouraging Your Junior High Student to Read, by John Shefelbine. With the help of a Lilly Endowment grant, the Family Uteracy Center at Indiana University is undertaking being trained by Center staff to give a project called Parents Sharing Books, Parentitenher teams are wnrkshops in their local communities to encourage parents to read and share books with their middle- school children. More information may be obtained by contacting the Family Literacy Center, Smith Research Center 150, 2805 E. 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47408. Reading Assessment Over the past few years, people have become increasingly concerned about assessment in reading, is the assessment that is being carried out producing valid and reliable measures of reading comprehension detrimental and fluency? Or are the tests themselves changing the emphasis of what is taught in a way that is vi of pof tfollost One of the bibliographies in this to learners? What about informal asseument, such as the use Secondary Schools, by Jerry Johns and collection is entitled Reading and Writing Assessment in Middle and that Include an overview, NAEP/state- Peggy Vanittirsbtrg. The raemuces are categorized into sections and content Lea assessment mandated testing, standardized tests, informal measures, special populations, (FAST Bib No. 39, also by Jerry Another bibliography dvals specifically with Informal Reading Inventories Johns and Peggy VanLeirsbure. Available from ER1C/RCS Is a book that contains the proceedings of a symposium held at Indiana Alternative Assessment of Performance University (cosponsored by this clearinghouse and Phi Delta Kappa): volume, and thus a broad spectrum in the Language Arts. Many different viewpoints are represented in the of the kinds of questions that are being asked in this field. Other Issues Materials in this collection also deal with such issues as reader response, vocabulary instruction, and eye bibliography entitled Adminstrators and the Reading Program movements In reading. In addition, there is a (FAST Bib No. 53, by Jerry Johns and Renee McDougall). in the area of Our intention Is to help you become more familiar with some of the issues and research useful. reading at the middle and secondary levels. We hope you will find this Special Collection More Information from the ERIC Database included in this collection, other resources may In addition to the citations in the Digests and FAST Bibs that would be useful ir a search are these: be found by seatrhing the ERIC database. A few of the terms Reading-Comprehension, Reading-Instruction, Reading-Mat' rials, Reading-Interests, Reading-Habits. These IntermediateCrades or Secondary-Education to limit the terms to the terms must be combined with respective levels. Materials on Reading (and ReadingWriting Connections) Available from the ERIC/RCS Clearinghouse: These materials, available from ERIC/RCS at Indiana University, may be of interest to you: For Teachers: Teaching the Novel, by Becky Alarm Critical Thinking, Reading, and Writing, by Mary Morgan and Michael Shermis Computers in English/Language Arts, by Sharon Sorenson A High School Student's Bill of Rights, by Stephen Gottifeb Language Arts for Gifted Middle School Students, by Susan J. Davis and Jerry L. Johns Working with Special Students in English/Language Arts, by Sharon Sorenson Writing across the Social Studies Curriculum, by Roger Sensenbaugh Writing Exercises for High School Students, by Barbara Vultaggio Word History : A Guide to Understanding the English Language, by Carl B. Smith and Eugene W. Reade by Elizabeth McMie.er. Peer Teething and Collaborative Learning in the Language Arts, For Teachers and Administrators: Smith Alternative Assessment of Performance in the Language Arts, edited by Carl B. Mikulecky, Secondary Reading: Theory and Application (presentations by Carl Smith, Larry William Diehl, Jerome Harste, and Richard Vacca) vu 'Per Parents: by jamie Myers You Can Encourage Your High School Student to Read, Encouraging Your Junior High Student to Read, by John Shefelbine To order any of these books, please use the form at the end of this collection. Ellie Macfarlane, ERIC/RCS Associate Director Editor, Special Collections Series vIP Digest Rlcf EDO-CS-91 03 Communication Skills Clearinghow,e on Reading and Bloomingban, IN 474084698 Indiana UnhvnitY (812)855-58,17 2805 E..10th St, Sulta150 Increasing Comprehension by Activating Prior Knowledge by William L Christen and Thomas t Musphy increases comprehension. Graves and his associ- The Research ates (1980; 1983) developed previews for short Research has been conducted to determine the stories that had, as one component, the building of value of providing activities or strategies to assist in prior knowiedge important to understanding the providing students with ways to activate their prior selection. Data indicated that reading the previews knowledge base. Studies looked at three possibili- before reading the stories increased students' learn- ties: (1) building readers' background knowledge; ing from stories by a significant and impressive knowl- (2) activating readers' existing background amount Stevens (1982) increased learning from edge and attention focusing before reading; and (3) text compared with a control group for 10th-grade guiding readers during reading and providing re- students reading a history passage by teaching them view after reading. relevant backeround information for that passage. It appears that when readers lack the prior Hayes and Tiemey (1982) found that presenting knowledge necessary to read, three major instruc- background information related to the topic to be tional interventions need to be considered: (1) learned helped readers learn from texts regardless teach vocabulary as a prereading step; (2) provide of how that background information was presented experiences; and (3) introduce a conceptual frame- Alvarez (1990) or how specific or general it was. work that will enable students to build appropriate used case-based instruction to develop students' abilities to assemble and incorporate different background for themselves. knowledge sources in memory. He taught them Preteaching vocabulary (to increase learning how to employ thematic organizers and hierarchical from text materials) probably requires that the concept mapping in their reading. words to be taught must be key words In the target Kameenui, Carnine, et Additionally, scant attention is paid to the role of passages (Beck, et al, 1982; a/, 1982), that words be taught in semantically and the reader's schemata, or background knowledge, topically related sets so that word meaning and when learning from text (Tierney & Pearson, 1985). background knowledge improve concurrently Yet research clearly emphasizes that for learning to only a be integrated with occur, new information must (Beck et al, 1982; Stevens, 1982), -.nd that week (Beck few words be taught per lesson and per what the learner already knows (Rumelhart, 1980). at, 1982; Stevens, 1982). et al., 1982; Kameenui et It appears that providing studer ts with strategies and long- To be an effective strategy, an extensive build a to activate their prior knowledge base or to accompanying a parallel term vocabulary strand base if one does not exist is supported by the cur- schematic or background-knowledge-develop- this is one rent research. It is our contention that called for. ment strand is probably influence on com- way teachers can have a positive knowledge Research on enriching background prehension in their classrooms. knowledge has demonstrated that activating such For example, Reutzel and Morgan (1990) advo- for teachers who cate two pedagogical alternatives Studies In William I. aufsten is Director o Sdence and Sodal wish to improve students' comprehension of causal Thom t Murphy is the Roosevelt School District Phoeniv, AZ relations which often are implicit in content area teacher In the Paradise Valley a middle school language arts School Diarict Moe* AZ 0 1