Bonnie C. Konopak

An Investigation of Two Chapter I Teachers' Beliefs about Reading and Instructional Practices.

Abstract The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between two Chapter I teachers’ reader‐based beliefs about reading and their instructional decision‐making that took place as they planned instruction and during actual teaching episodes, as well as to identify possible constraints and opportunities that may have influenced the decision‐making process. For each participant, the researcher selected a pull‐out class (6–10 students) to observe during 10 separate Chapter I instructional sessions. During the observations, the researcher wrote field notes, audiotaped the lessons, collected relevant learning materials, and interviewed the teachers. All data were qualitatively analyzed by a research team that searched for meaningful patterns between and within the participants. Results indicated that, although the participants shared similar beliefs about reading, there was considerable variation in their instructional practices. The participants’ beliefs affected their decision‐making, how...

Using Mental Imagery to Enhance Gifted Elementary Students' Creative Writing.

ABSTRACT The purpose of the present research was to examine the effects of mental imagery instruction on gifted elementary students’ creative writing and development of imagery vividness. Thirty‐seven fourth‐and fifth‐grade students were assigned to either a treatment or a control group and then participated in four group lessons over a two‐week period. Treatment subjects received instruction and practice in imagery usage through researcher‐developed passages that embedded highly imaginal sensory descriptions. Control subjects listened and responded to childrens stories. Following each lesson, both groups completed creative writing assignments. To assess the effects of the treatment, two pretest‐posttest tasks were given, a creative writing sample and a survey of imagery vividness. On the creative writing task, treatment subjects significantly outperformed control subjects on originality and use of sensory descriptions but not on writing length. In addition, both groups significantly improved on the vivi...

INCIDENTAL VERSUS INTENTIONAL WORD LEARNING FROM CONTEXT

The purpose of this study was to examine incidental word learning from context, that is, whether students would spontaneously focus on and acquire meanings for unknown words encountered in text. Sixty‐five eleventh graders constituted two treatment groups, incidental and intentional learning, and a control group. Materials included (a) a U.S. history text passage embedding 10 target words, and (b) a newspaper article passage on a similar topic which did not embed these words. As a pretest, all subjects were given a list of the target words and 10 distractors; they were asked to indicate whether they knew each word and to supply a definition. Then, the intentional learning group read the text passage with the target words underlined and completed a redefinition task. The incidental learning group read a second form of the passage without the words emphasized, while the control group read the newspaper passage. The following day, all subjects were posttested on the same self‐report and definition tasks. Res...

Eighth graders’ vocabulary learning from inconsiderate and considerate text

Abstract This study examined differences in eighth graders’ vocabulary learning from two versions of contextual information in two history text passages. One version left the original passages intact; a second form of each passage was revised according to four considerate definitional features: proximity, clarity of connection, explicitness, and completeness. Subjects were tested prior to and following text readings as to their knowledge of target words on self‐report and definition measures. Results showed that the subjects scored higher on the revised versions for definitions but not for self‐reports, indicating a discrepancy between their assumed awareness and actual knowledge.

Forty Years of Nrc Publications: 1952–1991

This article synthesizes the history and research trends of the National Reading Conference through a global analysis of 2,139 articles published in the Journal of Reading Behavior and the NRC Yearbooks. All articles published in JRB and the Yearbook through 1991 were classified by topic and method of analysis and stored in a permanent database. Systematic searches of the database yielded summary data for topic popularity, authorship trends, and methodological and philosophical shifts within the organization. The article includes recommended reading lists of NRC “firsts, classics and oddballs.”

Using readers’ imagery of literary characters to study text meaning construction

Abstract The purpose of the present research was to examine readers’ Images of literary characters as a basis for studying text meaning construction. Given reading theory that emphasizes text/reader contributions to understanding, the investigation focused on the convergence and divergence of character descriptions both between text and readers and between readers themselves. Two students read two short stories and responded during and after reading to researcher prompts on story characters. Descriptive phrases In both texts and student reports were isolated for each character than then categorized as: (a) lifestyle characteristics, (b) personality traits, or (c) physical appearance. Based on comparisons made by story and character for the three categories, the findings indicated greater variation than commonality between the texts and readers, as well as between the two readers. The students appeared to select different textual cues that enabled them to elaborate upon and extend the text information in d...

An integrated communication arts approach for enhancing students’ learning in the content areas

Abstract This study investigated the use of an integrated communication arts instructional strategy to facilitate comprehension in a high school history course. Treatments for the three experimental groups varied in the number of language processes each utilized. The writing treatment group wrote the first day after a topic‐brainstorming activity and the second day after a text reading about the same topic. The non‐writing treatment group received the brainstorming activity followed by a topic‐related word search puzzle task and then answered the comprehension questions from the text. The control group completed the word search puzzle and answered the comprehension questions. On the third day, all groups were administered an objective test and wrote on the topic. The writing group generated higher quality ideas on the written posttest than the other groups and better synthesized information acquired from all its activities. Furthermore, this group improved the quality of their ideas and their writing over...

Effects of Inconsiderate Text on Eleventh Graders' Vocabulary Learning.

This study examined differences in secondary students’ vocabulary learning from original and revised contextual information. Materials included two passages from a U.S. history text, each embedding 10 target words. One version left the original passages intact; a second version was revised for each target word according to four considerate definitional features: proximity, clarity of connection, explicitness, and completeness. Over a two‐day period, high and average ability eleventh graders read an original version of one passage and a revised version of the second passage. Following the readings, for each word the students were asked to indicate their extent of knowledge, to provide a topic‐related meaning, and to explain the words importance in understanding the larger topic. Results showed that the revised passages generated significantly higher scores for both ability groups on the definition and importance measures but not on the indication of knowledge measure. These findings suggest a discrepancy ...

Use of Mnemonic Imagery for Content Learning.

This study examined how students with learning disabilities (LD) learned a study strategy — the keyword method — and how they applied it to content information. This method is an elaborative mnemonic strategy that uses a familiar keyword and interactive image to link new and known information to facilitate learning. Subjects included 10 middle school students classified as LD from two urban areas. The instructional material was a science chapter on rocks and minerals; the assessment materials were a test of prior knowledge and two recall and recognition posttests. The study was carried out over 4 days, with the researchers modeling and guiding the students to learn and apply the method. Although test of prior knowledge indicated no/little knowledge of the topic, the two posttests indicated that some information had been acquired.