http://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/engl000-1.2.1-finding-the-main-idea.pdf The Saylor Foundation's guide to finding the main idea in a paragraph.
http://ctl.byu.edu/tip/five-keys-helping-students-read-difficult-texts
This tutorial contains the five top strategies students wish they had known earlier in their college careers.
http://www.criticalreading.com/inference_reading.htm A text does not contain a meaning. Readers construct meaning by what they take the words to mean and how they process sentences to find meaning.
http://www.cuesta.edu/student/resources/ssc/study_guides/reading_comp/
In summary, people just aren't reading as much anymore and yet the need for reading, comprehension, and communication skills (verbal and written) has increased.
http://www.slideshare.net/pilgrimlibrary/understanding-purpose-and-meaning Comprehending a writer's purpose and meaning is essential to your own understanding of a reading.
Films on Demand (46:18 min)
This program illustrates how teachers structure learning activities that foster independent learning around a central concept; identifies student-centered activities that make learning interesting, purposeful, and meaningful; models ways for teachers to guide students as they construct meaning and develop strategies for independent learning;
