A study was conducted to examine and describe the cultural knowledge, ideas, beliefs, and actions of children in a classroom as they acquire and apply reading skills. Subjects, 26 fourth and fifth graders and their teacher in one elementary classroom, were observed during reading and social studies instruction over a period of 4 months and were also interviewed by the researcher. Two open-ended questions were addressed: (1) What overt behaviors did the children engage in while working on reading activities? and (2) What do children verbalize about their individual perspectives of reading, reading instruction, and the application of reading skills in a content area, social studies? The children's perspectives were grouped into three distinct categories based on their knowledge, understanding, and ability to read as demonstrated in the classroom. Six "appliers" identified reading skills, defined or described the content of the identified skills, used reading skills to participate in reading group discussions, and independently applied the skills when reading for pleasure. Seventeen "tacit appliers" applied reading skills but were incapable of describing those skills. Three "nonappliers" could neither identify nor use reading skills. All the children in the classroom did observe each other in terms of reading ability and established criteria for each other similar to the teacher's. These results imply that a classroom of children should be considered as a specific number of distinct individuals and not as a whole group for instructional purposes. (JL)