Describes discussion practices recommended in 15 postprimary reading methods textbooks published before and after 1970. Focuses analysis on (1) function of textbook in discussion; (2) questioning-discussion relationship; and (3) teacher-student relationship in discussions. Finds that earlier authors granted texts more status as arbiters of ideas…

Examines a unified spelling and vocabulary instruction program for upper-elementary and middle-school students based on research investigating tacit and explicit knowledge of derivational morphology patterns and the orthographic expression of these patterns in semantically related words. Presents implications for and describes a systematic,…

Presents a research-based, classroom tested assessment tool, the Classroom Fluency Snapshot (CFS). Presents the case of one classroom in which a teacher uses the CFS as a pre- and post-assessment. Shares rich classroom examples, details of the teacher's interpretation, and instructional decision making along with ideas for instruction. (SG)

Discusses the need for assessing and remediating three strategic-text behaviors: (1) recognition of text organizational patterns, (2) use of text lookbacks, and (3) the location of important text information. Develops a diagnostic rational using current research findings, and presents assessment procedures and instructional strategies based on a…

Findings imply that while preschool children both enjoy and profit from listening to stories read to them in unelaborated fashion, they gain much more from observing and participating in the actions portrayed in the stories. (FL)

Describes a computer-based methodology that obtains simple timed responses to sets of words and word-like nonsense items, then presents pilot data depicting estimated vocabulary knowledge and relating it to word frequency and decision response time. (FL)

Supports findings from earlier research showing that older students are more aware of organizational structure, more precise in assessing information, and better able to deal with logical relationships than are younger students. (FL)

Concludes that, at the beginning of their school careers, children are quite different as far as reading and writing are concerned, and that there are certain universal prerequisites to reading and writing that may be termed "metalinguistic skills." (FL)

Shows how conceptions of literacy in reading have changed and what sorts of instruction best suit each conception. Identifies four conceptions of literacy: (1) decoding, (2) structural comprehension, (3) elaborative comprehension, and (4) critical thinking, and argues that each is best allied with a certain form of instruction. (FL)

Subjecting the comprehension passages of the Gates-McGinitie Reading Test to readability analysis using a multiformula computer program revealed that the instrument can best be used for making comparisons between groups using the same test forms and levels in the same sequence. (FL)

Argues that metacognitive training in students can help students to remediate comprehension difficulties, to more accurately guage their success as learners, and to view reading as a flexible, thought-provoking process of interaction with text. (HOD)

Describes an informal spelling assessment that teachers can use to understand students' level of orthographic knowledge at the beginning of the school year. Reports that the results of this informal testing allow teachers to group students for word study and directed literacy instruction. (MG)

Presents numerous whole language activities used by kindergarten teachers, including experience charts, dictated stories, student-written "books," and recipe writing. (RS)

Concludes that there may be differential effectiveness of method of reading instruction according to sex, with females finding letter training simpler than word training and males finding the reverse. (FL)

Concludes that the affective goals subscribed to by many alternative high schools do have positive effects on some of the attitudes toward school, self, and others held by students, but that there is no relationship between measured attitudes and reading improvement. (FL)