Dana Reisboard Comprehension Strategies Explicated in Social Studies Textbooks

Through the process of explicit instruction, a form of meta-cognitive control, students become able to guide their thinking when reading while applying specific comprehension strategies independently and in a differentiated manner. Connecting comprehension strategies to students’ growing knowledge of a content area allows them to increase their awareness of content by deliberately employing strategies designed to improve their understanding of the text (Brown, 1997). Students develop content knowledge while also enhancing reading abilities when techniques that foster reading development are integrated into content area texts (Armbruster, 1985; Crawford & Carnine, 2000; Wineberg, 2001). Researchers have evaluated content area texts from varying perspectives. However, at the present time, no published research findings exist indicating whether reading comprehension strategies are explicated in middle grade content area textbooks. Hence, the study reported here is an essential first step in determining both the quantity and quality of textbooks application of research on reading comprehension strategies.