Cognitive Science and Reading Comprehension

In the Winter 2006-2007 issue of American Educator Daniel T. Willingham writes a review of the research in reading comprehension. It is interesting to note that the elements of iCM (Interactive Concept Mapping) encapsulate the essence of how to effectively teach reading comprehension. While it is useful for readers to learn how to decode language, the most important thing they need for reading comprehension is knowledge of what they are reading. iCM helps educators provide students with a comprehensive "map" of a knowledge domain including the relationship between concepts.