Improving students' reading comprehension is a pervading instructional challenge. Cooperative learning, discussion, and questioning strategies are several effective means to accomplish this. A new instructional technique, Cooperative Discussion and Questioning (Coop-Dis-Q) was developed by taking all three elements and incorporating them into one strategy. The premise is that the strength of each will augment the benefits of the other two, creating a synergistic instructional effect. Field testing took place in a fifth-grade classroom using small groups working with a novel that had been read to the entire class. Coop-Dis-Q compels students to take active roles and assume responsibility for decision making at several levels.
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