Using Frames To Improve At-Risk Students' Comprehension in the Content Areas.

A 9-day study based on the framing strategy investigated the effects of using frames on low-performing students' (learning disabled or Chapter 1) comprehension of social studies text. Subjects were 14 fifth-graders from a large urban school district who were reading at least one year below grade level. All lessons were designed to involve students actively. After the teacher defined the purpose of the lesson, she reviewed prior learning by asking questions and making statements that led to a discussion of the previous day's material. When students worked in cooperative groups, the teacher provided instructional support and encouragement needed to determine missing key words and to decide the placement of the information strips on the frame. Daily observations, student feedback and scores on criterion tests indicated that the superior performance of the framing students (compared to the control group) was not due to the frames alone but to the entire instructional process. The frames combined with discussion, eliciting prior knowledge and predictions, discussions, realia, cooperative learning groups, and teacher encouragement, provided the structure that the at-risk students needed to successfully comprehend content area instruction. (MG)