This reader-friendly text examines the key foundational studies in early literacy. It addresses such essential questions as how research informs current practices and where the field still needs to go to provide the best learning opportunities for all children. Each chapter describes the methods and findings of one to five seminal studies,…

"Readiness for reading" is a phrase familiar to anyone interested in the teaching of reading. Readiness is an essential factor in any phase of learning. If the individual is to learn, some foundation for that learning must be established. Relatively few articles concerning the place of readiness in areas other than reading appear in educational…

Outlines the story of one first-grade student's successful struggle with learning to read. (MD)

Intended for use with youngsters eager to begin reading as well as reluctant starters, this book is filled with time-tested, entertaining, and simple games that build on children's curiosity and sense of fun to teach reading skills. The book contains a brief introduction outlining the methods and goals of the reading games and instructions on how…

A group of 30 nonreading kindergarten children who received 7 weeks of instruction in phoneme segmentation and letter names/sounds were assessed on segmentation and reading measures. They outperformed a language activities group, which received instruction in letter names/sounds and additional language activities, and a group receiving no…

Based directly on the findings from the National Research Council's report "Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children," this guide offers a "checklist" that will help teachers and principals recognize at a glance the key characteristics of quality reading programs identified in the research. The guide does not describe any single way to…

Based directly on the reports of the National Reading Panel ("Teaching Children To Read") and the National Research Council ("Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children"), this guide is designed to be an accessible and practical document that delivers research findings about effective reading instruction that may serve as guidelines for…

The process of creating handmade books with children is a great way to experience communication through art and words. One of the important literacy skills children need to learn is "concepts of print." These include the basic understanding of what a book is, the ability to recognize the front and back covers, and the capacity to turn the pages…

Examples of the awareness of young children of printed information they have gained informally are used to demonstrate some of the important knowledge that children bring to beginning reading and writing. Teachers need to encourage exploratory reading and writing experiences. (Author/DB)

An analogy is drawn between understanding Shakespeare's work and the debate about teaching beginning reading. The apparent ease of reading is seen to mask its very real complexity. The importance of the early reading environment for readiness and the necessity of teaching sounds and then words is stressed. Tips for teaching phonological awareness…

This article briefly summarizes what is known about how phonological awareness fits into the beginning reading process and effective methods for teaching phonological awareness. Special difficulties with phonological awareness of children with learning disabilities or from culturally diverse backgrounds are noted. (DB)

Designed for the grades K-2 literature-based classroom, this reading assessment kit includes 6 books which represent the stages most developing readers pass through as they move from being emergent to fluent readers. The kit also contains reading ladder assessment tools and reproducible charts and checklists. The literature selections in the kit…

Expanded to cover prereading through grade 12, this book presents a simple method for effectively assessing the reading proficiency of students K-12. The second edition of the book provides, using preprimer and primer passages, a means for assessing the emergent/beginning reading skills of students just entering school. The book includes a special…

This handbook offers a practical and comprehensive means of teaching and monitoring children's development of phonological awareness in the classroom. The handbook points out that studies have shown clearly that even informal phonological awareness activities, such as the natural and spontaneous word play found in stories, songs, and games, can…

This article presents a five-step sequence for teaching children with disabilities to read pictures. Steps are sequenced for content and complexity of picture, student response requirement, and language demands. They include: (1) identify person, (2) identify object, (3) identify person and object, (4) identify action, and (5) identify sequence.…