ABSTRACT
The purpose for much of the reading that is done in schools is to learn new information. Usually, reading to learn involves reading expository texts such as social studies or science textbooks. Reading to learn might also involve reading newspapers and magazines, or it might even involve reading fiction, if a student’s purpose is to learn something about literature. Because of the centrality of reading in most school learning, we know more about reading to learn than we do about reading for other purposes. Learning information from text appears to involve an interaction between textual factors such as structure and vocabulary and reader factors such as prior knowledge of the text’s topic, reading strategies available for learning, and motivation to learn.
