Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

The comparative effects of instruction in self-questioning, summarizing, and question-answer relations on reading comprehension test performance were studied with 49 juniors and seniors enrolled in a remedial reading course at Georgia State University. The objective was to find a method to help students pass a statewide college reading exit examination. In the item-writing training procedure, students were taught to write multiple-choice comprehension questions based on their reading, while the summary writing training followed Day's summarization rules. Finally, students were introduced to the taxonomy of question-answer relations using the "Will Wends His Way" passage and questions from Pearson and Johnson (1978). All students received 4 to 5 hours of instruction and practice per week for a month within the context of the class. Three evaluation measures were employed: the Basic Word Vocabulary Test during the first week, a practice form of the state exit reading comprehension examination during the last week, and the actual Regent's Reading examination. Students trained in discrening question-answer relations were more successful on reading comprehension tests than students trained in either summarizing or item writing. (SW)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert