As a new teacher, the author was disheartened to find that students could easily answer the end-of-chapter questions in their textbook, but couldn't explain any of their answers. Students were experts at finding the key phrases or using the glossary, but the real meaning of the text had not been internalized. To further their understanding of the content material, and to make the homework more meaningful, the author adapted four reading strategies traditionally used in a language arts class to science textbook and article assignments (Harvey and Goudvis 2000). Each student now has a science reading journal where they keep their notes and thoughts about each textbook section or article they read.