Describes how kindergarten children use invented spelling to rewrite Mother Goose nursery rhymes, indicating the phoneme grapheme system the children perceived from spoken language. (HTH)

"Sounding out" is a cultural model capturing an image of reading that parents and children share, is found to enhance reading ability. The role played by "Sounding out" in parent's experiences with reading is described and how they apply their understanding of sounding out words to instructional interactions with their own children is described.

Describes word-learning activities for first graders, devised to help at-risk readers make discoveries about the alphabetic system. Discusses why these discoveries are important for students' progress in learning to read and spell. (SR)