Content-area reading begins in grade 1 and is a gradual and continuous development of the reading skills through the grades and beyond. For the student to gain proficiency in this difficult and complex art, theoretical suggestions paired with actual classroom samples in content-area instruction are illustrated for the content-area teacher's use. For the content-area teacher, the essential factors and their relationships and interrelationships as well as their influences toward student success or failure in content-area reading-learning instruction are discussed. It is hoped by the author that when such an approach is more widely followed by the content-area teachers our young people will more readily appreciate and enjoy the act of reading and its results. Topics presented in this paper include the following: a definition of reading, reading and subject matter, reading readiness, background experiences, general and special vocabulary, setting purposes, and instructional reading levels. References are given. (Author/DE)