Based on the idea that word identification is a group of strategies that children develop as they learn to read, not a single letter-sound by letter-sound pathway to pronunciation, this book invites teachers to support readers as they develop and use many different world identification strategies. Chapters in the book are: (1) Using the Alphabetic…

There is a convergence of research evidence pointing to the critical role good phonics decoding skills play in good reading; however, there is no convergence in the research on precise development of reading strategies or on types, intensity, or duration of appropriate phonics instruction. Five unscientific assertions are often cited in phonics…

Provides 11 annotations from the ERIC database of recent reports and conference papers that address the relationship of phonics to beginning reading. (MG)

This guide will help teach phonemic awareness to Pre K-3 students. It presents phonemic awareness as a sophisticated branch of phonological awareness through interactive activities that allows the student to succeed in learning the sounds represented by the letters of the alphabet. The book is designed to provide easy-to-follow suggestions for:…

A reading instructor interested in reliving the experience of learning to read for the first time attempted to read "Androcles and the Lion" in Shavian Alphabet. The would-be reader of Shavian faces a page of hooks and slants completely unfamiliar, but there is no translation problem. As soon as the reader can pronounce out loud the…

Recent research confirms that children learn to read best by using a balanced literacy program incorporating a combination of explicit phonics, whole language, and good literature. Long before children are able to engage in reading themselves, they must feel that reading is something they want to do. Comfortable and early familiarity with letters…

In Experiment 1, it was found that 5-year-old new school entrants taught by a synthetic phonics method had better reading, spelling and phonemic awareness than two groups taught analytic phonics. The synthetic phonics children were the only ones that could read by analogy, and they also showed better reading of irregular words and nonwords. For…

Attempts to justify the place of real books in the beginning reading curriculum, and to suggest teaching strategies for the development of a multi-cue approach to reading. (RS)

Shared reading involves reading aloud, making a variety of print materials available, and promoting positive attitudes toward literacy. Shared reading experience simulates the bedtime reading experience. It is a happy, secure situation that invites participation by children. Shared reading materials often use enlarged print which allows every…

The article describes how to teach skills strategically in whole-language classrooms. It discusses differences between skills and strategies and notes how to move from skill to strategy. A section on teaching phonics examines phonics charts and personal phonics booklets; suggests an order for teaching phonics. (SM)

Considers patterns of possible relationships between phonological recoding skill and three conceptually distinct aspects of reading. Finds that systematic instruction is more effective than incidental instruction; inclusion of direct instruction in phonological recoding skill yields better results than relying primarily on writing activities; and…

Addresses the issue of what happens to developing readers and spellers when they are given phonics instruction by describing the experiences of one six-year-old girl who received phonics instruction in kindergarten. (BB)

Claims that even though teaching phonics is an effective method of reading instruction, the skills taught by phonics have little to do with the process of reading acquisition. Offers two methods of resolving the paradoxes generated by this situation. (NH)

Provides a look at primary grade children's abilities, inabilities, and requirements to use phonics as a beginning reading strategy and suggests a model that facilitates children's application of phonics while reading. (FL)

Reports that after more than 50 years of argument as to whether children should be taught the names of letters as part of learning to read, American researchers have begun to suggest that letter name instruction and phonics instruction interact for better learning. (FL)