Guiding Readers Through Text —
Abstract of

Chapter 21
Reading Road Map

Karen D. Wood

Diane Lapp

James Flood

D. Bruce Taylor

Many students, particularly those who have difficulty comprehending grade-level material, tend to read all text at the same rate—either very slowly and deliberately, or very quickly. The Reading Road Map guides students through the content by helping them adjust their reading rate to correspond with the importance of the concepts encountered.

The Reading Road Map is composed of missions, or purposes (interspersed questions and activities), road signs (reading rate indicators), and location signs (headings, page/paragraph numbers, or varied external sources of information) designed in road map-form to indicate points of interest requiring additional attention along the way. To make the reading trip more engaging and interactive, students can choose or be assigned a “traveling companion” for their journey through the text.

Because this approach is novel, it tends to capture the attention of students who are difficult to motivate. The Reading Road Map can be modified and used at any grade level.

Wood, K.D., Lapp, D., Flood, J., & Taylor, D. (2007). Reading Road Map. In Guiding Readers Through Text (pp. 155-160). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.