Given the prominent use of standards-based curriculum materials in mathematics education, it is vital to understand how math teachers work to make sense of these texts. Applying transactional reading theory and think-aloud protocol techniques to examine the factors influencing elementary preservice teachers' reading of standards-based mathematics curriculum, we found that preservice teachers with strong reading comprehension skills took a more "critical stance" in their reading of standards-based mathematics texts which, in turn, appeared to influence their ability to mine these texts for meaning.