Public elementary students are struggling with reading comprehension. Academic success is jeopardized across the curriculum when students experience reading difficulties. The purpose of this study was to investigate (a) student perceptions of reading instructional strategies thought to help improve reading comprehension, (b) student perceptions on whether working alone or in a group is thought to be more helpful when reading comprehension is the goal, and (c) student perceptions of teachers being helpful or not when they stop readers to ask comprehension questions. Eighteen third-grade students and their teacher participated voluntarily in this study. Qualitative data was collected using a triangulation approach. The triangulation approach ensured that a cohesive argument was obtained by cross-referencing existing data, and the raw data collected in this study. Data was collected through observations and interviews in order to validate the consistency of the findings produced in this study. Participants were observed biweekly for 40-minutes over an eight week period. During the observations, field notes were recorded on the instructional strategies and the participants' responses to their teacher. Participants were interviewed when the teacher was not implementing direct instruction. The data was coded by establishing themes, identifying key words related to the themes, and color-coding the data collected. The research analysis included identification of specific themes and the interpretation of the data findings. The emerging understanding, after cross-referencing and compiling the data collected, resulted in the findings that students are motivated to learn if they like the instruction and the way they are assigned to work. This study promotes positive social changes by providing the necessary support for students to learn to become independent thinkers and self-confident workers.