ABSTRACT

Colleen, a fairly new third grade teacher, was talking with a small group of her colleagues at her school one Friday afternoon before the beginning of a staff meeting. She mentioned that she knew comprehension was a central goal of reading, but she wasn't certain how to provide the best instruction to foster her children's reading comprehension. Larry, the fifth grade teacher we introduced you [0 in chapter 1, said that he had been working hard to improve the reading comprehension of his students in his own classroom for many years. He asked Colleen if she'd like to come to his room some day during reading to observe how he organized his classroom to foster his children's comprehension. Colleen thought that was a great idea, so she asked her principal, Mrs. Chin, if she would work with her class for an hour and a half one morning the following week so that she could observe in Larry's classroom. Of course, Colleen and Larry also scheduled time after school the day of Colleen's visit so that they could discuss her observations in Larry's classroom.