Improving Middle-Grade Students' Reading and Writing of Expository Text

Abstract

AbstractStudents in the middle grades have difficulty reading and writing in content subjects. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of reading and/or writing instruction in social studies that focused on text organization, main idea statements, and important supporting details. Ninety-eight sixth-grade students were randomly assigned to one of four groups: Group A, receiving reading and writing instruction in social studies; Group B, receiving reading instruction alone; Group C, receiving writing instruction alone; and Group 1), a control condition. Results indicated that students who received the reading instruction, which focused on main ideas and important details, generally had better recall of textbook material they read than students who did not receive the reading instruction. However, no differences among groups were found in short-answer scores or in the quality of students' summaries of textbook selections they read. Also, no differences among groups were found i...