The ultimate aim of reading is not the process but to understand what we read and comprehension can take place at many different levels. There has been an increasing emphasis on the importance of reading comprehension in recent years but despite this there is very little written on this vital topic accessible to trainee and practicing teachers. The Handbook of Reading Comprehension presents an overview of recent findings on reading comprehension and comprehension problems in children. It provides a detailed examination of the characteristics of children who have reading comprehension difficulties, and examines ways in which comprehension can be supported and improved. It is accessibly written for students and professionals with no previous background in the psychology of reading or reading problems. This indispensable handbook asks the question ‘what is comprehension?’ The authors consider comprehension of different units of language: understanding single words, sentences, and connected prose and outline what readers (and listeners) have to do to successfully understand an extended text. This book also considers comprehension for different purposes, in particular reading for pleasure and reading to learn and explores how reader characteristics such as interest and motivation can influence the comprehension process. Different skills contribute to successful reading comprehension. These include word reading ability, vocabulary knowledge, syntactic skills, memory, and discourse level skills such as the ability to make inferences, knowledge about text structure, and metacognitive skills. The authors discuss how each one contributes to the development of reading comprehension skill and how the development of these skills (or their precursors) in pre-readers, provides the foundation for reading comprehension development. Areas covered include:- Word reading and comprehension Development of comprehension skills Comprehension difficulties Assessment Teaching for improvement Throughout the text successful experimental and classroom based interventions will be highlighted, practical tips for teachers and summary boxes detailing key points and explaining technical terms will be included in each chapter

Can baboons read? That is the thought-provoking question that opens this wonderfully accessible book for trainee and practising primary school teachers to fully understand the process of reading comprehension. Comprehension is an essential component of learning to read and a successful teacher of reading will have a portfolio of different strategies and approaches that take in to account that children learn to read in different ways. This book supports the development of student and practising teachers’ subject knowledge by providing detailed guidance in to the reading comprehension process, along with practical strategies and lesson ideas for use in the classroom. Drawing from educational and psychological research, coverage includes: School-based activities in every chapter An in-depth focus on the inference making process The role of vocabulary and syntax in comprehension Cognitive and meta-cognitive processes including the use of memory Advice on developing effective classroom talk with different groups of children Using different text genres and selecting texts

Describes strategies teachers can use to promote reading comprehension in students from kindergarten through eighth grade; and includes examples of student work, illustrations, and other reference tools.

To Understand proposes a model that incorporates all aspects of literacy instruction and describes how teachers can focus on what matters most. Keene shows that when teachers target the most essential content, they can help every student engage more deeply with texts and discover a passion for reading and learning. You'll learn to draw out students' intellectual interests and spark improvements in their literacy learning and comprehension-even among students who struggle. You'll see that teaching the Outcomes and Dimensions of Understanding can help readers exceed expectations and also help broaden your vision of their capacity and energy for learning.

Learning to read is one of the most important life skills teachers can help a child develop. Teaching reading is a vital part of a career in the classroom and engaging with the range of different learning styles children have is a real challenge. Trainee teachers need to learn how to address this variety of learning needs, and also meet the wider demands of the curriculum. Margaret Perkins helps students meet these challenges to become a confident, reflective teacher of reading by providing: * An in-depth explanation of phonics teaching alongside other teaching approaches, empowering trainees to choose the right approach for each individual child *Key research findings so students can apply the latest thinking to their teaching practice *School-based activities and independent learning tasks to help apply theory to practice, and develop teaching skills through self-reflection *Classroom scenarios of teacher-child interactions that demonstrate how children learn and respond to different teaching strategies.

In fall 1999, the Department of Education's Office of Educational Researchand Improvement (OERI) asked RAND to examine how OERI might improve thequality and relevance of the education research it funds. The RAND ReadingStudy Group (RRSG) was charged with developing a research framework toaddress the most pressing issues in literacy. RRSG focused on readingcomprehension wherein the highest priorities for research are: (1)Instruction

First Published in 2007. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.