ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates three elements and the strategies which can be used to develop them. They include: development of vocabulary; access to adults who could model reading and comprehension strategies; and interaction with texts – active reading. The chapter includes case study of a project which involved writing a novel, The Wishroom, with 45 children from 15 schools. Children could be asked to identify aspects of texts which puzzle them. These might be concepts within the text, or they could be individual words or phrases. Graphic organisers, which illustrate concepts and the relationships between them using diagrams, might also be used by children to summarise texts. These might take the form of storyboards where simple sketches can be accompanied by short sentences to describe a sequence of events. John Stuart and R. Stainthorp argue that advanced readers are able to anticipate before and during reading what the text may be about.
