Presents activities for teaching two basic phonemic awareness tasks to young children who are learning to read. Oral blending exercises help children hear how sounds are put together to make words so they can begin sounding out words independently as they read. Oral segmentation activities help children separate words into sounds so they can build…

Twenty ideas to motivate reluctant young readers in kindergarten and elementary school classrooms are presented. The ideas include reading contests, prizes, classroom decor, and community involvement. (PP)

Presents some suggestions for nurturing and supporting emergent readers and writers (e.g., recognize drawing as an important step in early literacy, engage children in conversations about their daily experiences). Also presents an interview with two authors on the special literacy needs of students with major instabilities in their lives. (SM)