Focus on Reading Comprehension:
Recommended Reading

Professional development collections

IRA Literacy Study Groups Reading Comprehension Module

IRA Literacy Study Groups Vocabulary Module

Each package includes books, articles, position statements, discussion guides, and other resources for personal or school-based professional development.

Books

Click on a title to find a detailed description, and to browse contents and sample chapters.

Building Reading Comprehension Habits in Grades 6–12: A Toolkit of Classroom Activities, by Jeff Zwiers

Classroom Strategies for Interactive Learning, by Doug Buehl  NEW!

Comprehension Shouldn’t Be Silent: From Strategy Instruction to Student Independence, by Michelle J. Kelley and Nicki Clausen-Grace

Comprehension Strategies for Middle Grade Learners: A Handbook for Content Area Teachers, by Charlotte Rose Sadler

Creating Strategic Readers: Techniques for Developing Competency in Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension, by Valerie Ellery

Four Powerful Strategies for Struggling Readers, Grades 3–8: Small Group Instruction That Improves Comprehension, by Lois A. Lanning  NEW!

Guided Comprehension: A Teaching Model for Grades 3–8, by Maureen McLaughlin and Mary Beth Allen

Guided Comprehension in the Primary Grades, by Maureen McLaughlin

Guiding Readers Through Text: Strategy Guides for New Times, by Karen D. Wood, Diane Lapp, James Flood, and D. Bruce Taylor

Improving Comprehension Instruction: Rethinking Research, Theory, and Classroom Practice, edited by Cathy Collins Block, Linda B. Gambrell, and Michael Pressley

In a Reading State of Mind: Brain Research, Teacher Modeling, and Comprehension Instruction, by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Diane Lapp  NEW!

Quality Comprehension: A Strategic Model of Reading Instruction Using Read-Along Guides, Grades 3–6, by Sandra K. Athans and Denise Ashe Devine  NEW!

R⁵ in Your Classroom: A Guide to Differentiating Independent Reading and Developing Avid Readers, by Michelle J. Kelley and Nicki Clausen-Grace  NEW!

Reading and Writing With Understanding: Comprehension in Fourth and Fifth Grades, by Sally Hampton and Lauren B. Resnick  NEW!

Reciprocal Teaching at Work: Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension, by Lori D. Oczkus

Teaching Comprehension and Exploring Multiple Literacies: Strategies From The Reading Teacher, edited by Timothy V. Rasinski et al.

Teaching Vocabulary to Improve Reading Comprehension, by William E. Nagy

“Tell Me a Story”: Developmentally Appropriate Retelling Strategies, by Jill Hansen

Weaving Through Words: Using the Arts to Teach Reading Comprehension Strategies, by Roberta D. Mantione and Sabine Smead

Articles

Selected articles from recent issues of the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy:

“Inviting reluctant adolescent readers into the literary club: Some comprehension strategies to tutor individuals or small groups of reluctant readers,” by Elizabeth BiFuh Ambe (May 2007; vol. 50, no. 8)

“Bridging two worlds: Reading comprehension, figurative language instruction, and the English-language learner,” by Barbara C. Palmer et al. (Dec. 2006; vol. 50, no. 4)

“Reading comprehension strategies for adult literacy outcomes,” by Mike Hock and Daryl Mellard (Nov. 2005; vol. 49, no. 3)

“A musical journey through John Steinbeck’s The Pearl: Emotion, engagement, and comprehension,” by Roger Caswell (Sept. 2005; vol. 49, no. 1)

Top-quality research, reported in Reading Research Quarterly:

“Exploring the online reading comprehension strategies used by sixth-grade skilled readers to search for and locate information on the Internet,” by Julie Coiro and Elizabeth Dobler (April/May/June 2007; vol. 42, no. 2)

“Effects of systematic and strategic analogy-based phonics on grade 2 students’ word reading and reading comprehension,” by Thomas G. White (April/May/June 2005; vol. 40, no. 2)

Selections from The Reading Teacher, for those working with children up to age 12:

“‘Help! What is wrong with these literature circles and how can we fix them?’,” by Lane W. Clarke and Jennifer Holwadel (September 2007; vol. 61, no. 1)

“Instruction of metacognitive strategies enhances reading comprehension and vocabulary achievement of third-grade students,” by Regina Boulware-Gooden, Suzanne Carreker, Ann Thornhill and R. Malatesha Joshi (September 2007; vol. 61, no. 1)

“Getting the big idea: A neglected goal for reading comprehension,” by Sean A. Walmsley (Nov. 2006; vol. 60, no. 3)

“Profiles in comprehension,” by Mary DeKonte Applegate, Kathleen Benson Quinn, and Anthony J. Applegate (Sept. 2006; vol. 60, no. 1)

“Writing to learn across the curriculum: Tools for comprehension in content area classes,” by Kathy J. Knipper and Timothy J. Duggan (Feb. 2006; vol. 59, no. 5)

“Comprehension instruction in content area classes,” by Paul Neufeld (Dec. 2005/Jan. 2006; vol. 59, no. 4)

“QAR: Enhancing comprehension and test taking across grades and content areas,” by Taffy E. Raphael and Kathryn H. Au (Nov. 2005; vol. 59, no. 3)

“Conversation: The comprehension connection,” by Ann Ketch (Sept. 2005; vol. 59, no. 1)

From Reading Today, IRA’s membership newspaper:

“Monitoring progress in fluency: Possible unintended consequences” (June/July 2007)  FREE!

“Fluent to a fault: Put fluency in the passenger seat and let comprehension take the wheel” (June/July 2007)  FREE!