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,…

All teachers recognize the importance of matching literacy instruction to the ability level and needs of each child--but how can this crucial goal actually be accomplished? This indispensable book provides a research-based framework and flexible, highly practical strategies for making differentiated instruction work. Written by leading experts,…

The history of teaching people to read is explored from the introduction of the Greek alphabet about 3,000 years ago to the present renewed interest in sound symbol relationships. Greek schoolboys were required to learn first the alphabet in order, next commonly used syllables, and then words. English was first written in the Latin alphabet using…

This book presents a method of teaching letter sounds to children; it suggests ways for the elementary teacher or parent to involve children physically, as well as mentally, in the learning process. For example, to learn the letter "Y," children stand with outstretched arms to form themselves into the letter Y; to learn the "Z" sound, children…

This book is designed to communicate findings of a research synthesis investigating the bases of reading failure and the curricular and instructional basics to help guide the design and advancement of children's reading performance. It provides in-depth analyses and discussion of six areas of reading, summarizing what the research tells about…

This collection of articles from The Reading Teacher offers indispensable insight on issues, problems, and innovative solutions in literacy education. A wide spectrum of authors--ranging from successful classroom teachers to noted researchers and teacher educators--weigh in on language theories, relevant research, effective instructional…

Now in a revised and expanded second edition, this invaluable book provides teachers and coaches with the information and tools they need to get started on the complex process of reading assessment. Grounded in a solid scientific framework, the book presents practical strategies that enable teachers to recognize "good reader" behaviors, assess…

Extending the editors' system for word study, this book presents essays by scholars and practitioners who explore letter and word learning in a variety of reading, writing, and language contexts in the primary classroom, with articles that range from detailed observations of individual readers and writers to full-scale analyses of classroom…

The three articles in this publication discuss the following topics: (1) a psycholinguistic perspective on beginning reading that focuses on the child's linguistic system, rather than on the information processing strategies he or she learns to use in reading, and identifies word recognition as the major hurdle faced by the beginner; (2) the issue…

Including revisions and updates in all areas, this book functions as a pre-service and in-service teacher self-instructional manual in word recognition skills. The first part of the book discusses the controversy concerning early phonics instruction versus use of the whole language approach, and then discusses consonants, vowels, reading…

The emphasis of this book is on theory and research in spelling. It also includes practical information for the classroom teacher by noting teaching principles and generalizations that can guide spelling instruction. The book contains 12 chapters dealing with the following topics: (1) developmental concepts of word; (2) what a word is; (3)…

Outlining how teachers can best support a literate community yet still meet the needs of individual readers, this book explains how to create a balanced literacy program for grades K-3 based on guided reading and supported by reading aloud, shared reading, interactive writing, and other approaches. The book also presents guidelines for observation…

Interspersing vignettes and comments, this book describes the "Doing Words" program of teaching reading and writing to kindergarten and first-grade children. The book notes that the system is based on talking with the children each day, and finding what words are the most important to them that day and giving them those words on a card…

This "kit" consists of 145 activities that teach and reinforce specific pre-reading and beginning reading skills; it has been developed to help the primary grade teacher in recognizing and developing skills that assure each child's continuous reading progress. Part One explains how pre-reading skills are developing reading skills in the…

Intended for teachers, students, and researchers of reading, this book reflects the theories, models, and research generated over the past 10 years on the psychology and pedagogy of reading. Essays in the first section of the book deal with the historical changes in reading research and theory, and the pioneers of reading research. Essays in the…