To examine the comprehension process employed by gifted readers and to identify the various metacognitive strategies they employ, 100 gifted student volunteers in grades 4 through 7 were administered the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), Reading Subtests 11 and 13. The students also completed a questionnaire to determine metacognitive awareness of strategy selection and use. Based on grade equivalence results of the ITBS subtest, level 13, the top five students in each grade level were selected to participate in protocol analysis of the comprehension process and an interview. Students were given two short passages with related questions from ITBS level 14 and asked to stop at indicated points to describe the text and what they were thinking. Findings revealed that all participants scored above grade level placement, and that students perceived their use of (1) failure to understand a clause, (2) rereading, (3) information about the story to understand context, (4) use of context to obtain meaning of words, (5) identification of main ideas and significant details, and (6) use of imagery, a previously unidentified strategy. The results suggest a need for teacher awareness of the comprehension process and metacognitive strategies. These could be incorporated into both critical and creative reading instruction, along with the general techniques of guided reading and structured overviews. (CRH)