In this study, the authors examine the learning of 48 preservice teachers (PSTs) taking a literacy course in special education and the primary-grade struggling readers they tutored in a field component of the course. The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the effects of the course and tutoring on PSTs' knowledge and…

Structured Literacy (SL) approaches are often recommended for students with dyslexia and other poor decoders (e.g., International Dyslexia Association, 2017). Examples of SL approaches include the Wilson Reading System (Wilson, 1988), Orton-Gillingham (Gillingham & Stillman, 2014), the Lindamood Phoneme Sequencing Program (Lindamood &…

Designed for use in the home, this booklet describes how someone can be taught how the alphabet works; that is, by decoding the ABC's into spoken language. Among the steps to decoding discussed in this booklet are these: (1) teaching the sounds of individual letters; (2) teaching the different sounds of the vowels; (3) sounding out little words;…

A year-long study examined how phonics or whole word instruction affected first graders' progress in reading and spelling words. Subjects, 80 Houston, Texas students of average reading and intellectual abilities from three classrooms receiving phonics instruction and three classrooms receiving whole word instruction, were administered a phonemic…

The oral reading errors of 15 second graders were analyzed to find out if strategies used by good and poor readers could be differentiated. Patterns of errors were identified, and it was found that good readers often used context cues, while poor readers relied heavily on visual-phonic information. It was also possible to identify good and poor…

Experiments investigated the learning effects of two strategies (whole-word and segmented feedback) in beginning readers. Results from both experiments indicate whole-word sound feedback is more helpful than segmented feedback. (SM)

This study examined differences in oral reading strategies of 60 first-grade students attending school in two comparable Texas districts. One district provided beginning reading instruction through an eclectic basal approach; the second taught reading using a phonic emphasis approach. The Reading Miscue Inventory was used to analyze oral reading…

Intended to help educators explain an instructional program to parents, this document presents and discusses the following ten statements reflecting traditional views about teaching reading: (1) Reading is a simple, passive mental process. (2) An efficient reader pronounces every word in the passage. (3) When children come to an unfamiliar word,…

In Nashville, Tennessee, there are children representing 24 different non-English language groups. Teachers involved with planning instruction for and teaching such language minority children should consider not only the language differences, but also the cultural differences since many foreign students are from cultures very different from the…

First-graders taught reading by phonics or language experience approach were compared on their ability to orally decode lists of words identified as either real or nonsense words. The two groups did not differ in overall correct responses, nor were their strategies influenced by the "real/nonsense" directions. (SJL)

The purpose of this article is to question the amount of time that beginning readers should spend reading connected text in school. Based on a study of 66 children in 26 classrooms, the authors found that children in first-grade classrooms with "less" reading of connected text achieved more in their phonics learning than children in classrooms…

Contrasts ways phonics is frequently taught with examples of ways phonics would be taught according to research. Responses to major criticisms of a phonics approach are presented. Research indicates the best reading instruction involves systematically teaching children the most common sound for a select group of letters and letter combinations.…

Second-grade pupils using the Ginn "Reading 360" or the McGraw-Hill "Programmed Reading" were compared in their reading and retelling of the story "King Alfred and the Cakes." Analysis, using the Reading Miscue Inventory, of the performance of 20 selected pupils indicated that those taught with "Programmed…

Investigating how good and poor readers process words, a study examined the spelling and reading processes of 80 middle-class first grade students from three schools in Houston, Texas, 40 who were receiving whole word instruction, and 40 receiving phonics instruction. Based on scores from the Gates-McGinitie Reading Test, Basic R (administered in…

An extensive case history of instructional environment and acquisition of reading skills by 50 first-grade students in ten classrooms indicates that the rate at which students mastered decoding depended on classroom instruction with direct instruction appearing most profitable for children from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. (MKM)