Reading comprehension instruction in many classrooms focuses on teacher-generated questions which actually measure comprehension of specific text rather than developing metacognitive strategies for comprehending all text. Explicit instruction in the metacognitive strategies of making text connections, predicting, and sequencing, was evaluated for its usefulness in improving reading comprehension in a first-grade classroom. Results showed a significant difference in students' awareness of comprehension strategies and comprehension of text as measured by the Index of Reading Awareness and the Beaver Developmental Reading Assessment before and after the intervention. These findings suggest that students in primary grades may benefit from explicit instruction in reading comprehension strategies at the same time they are learning to decode words. (Contains 3 tables and 8 figures.)