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The present study investigated the effective use of a writing strategy for enhancing sixth graders' comprehension of a world history topic. Based on an integrated communication arts approach, the procedures included speaking, listening, and reading for all students, with writing the crucial variable of difference between experimental groups. Over 4 days, the treatment group was assigned writing tasks following class brainstorming and text reading activities; in contrast, the control group was given common identification and short-answer comprehension type tasks. Based on a written posttest, results indicated that the treatment group generated significantly higher quality ideas than the control group, including fewer textbased ideas and more class brainstorming ideas, and produced more coherent, integrated writing samples. In addition, within the treatment group students significantly improved their writing with regard to both overall writing ability and the quality of ideas across the 4-day period. Recommendations for a writing strategy to enhance content area learning are discussed.A primary component of content area learning is the comprehension of subject concepts and their relationships. Ideally, in order to achieve an in-depth understanding, students use their existing knowledge to comprehend the new information and then reorganize their schemata for further learning. To facilitate this process, classroom teachers consider these learning elements within instructional planning and delivery, including the use of textbook reading as an important source of content information. Such consideration is crucial, given the possible mismatch between students' content reading abilities and the content and structure of the text (Marshall, 1989).

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 the three-day period.A much discussed but little researched aspect of content-area learning concerns comprehension of subject information in the classroom. Although a primary consideration for any content area, comprehension is not actively promoted by current classroom practices. Durkin (1978-79), in observing 17,997 minutes in reading and social studies classes, found that less than 1% of class time was devoted to actual comprehension instruction; rather, the emphasis was on unguided practice through a limited variety of class activities. The present study attempted to address this problem situation by testing an instructional technique that focuses on the integration of various language activities to promote comprehension in the content areas.Because comprehension is a basic component of learning, classroom activities intended to help students learn content information must be designed to effectively facilitate comprehension. Moffett (1981) defines learning as "organic in the true sense of being a live organization, a system of interrelationships.

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