Describes first-grade children who completed a battery of tasks that included standardized measures of word recognition and spelling, measures of phonological and orthographic processing skills, and a short indicator of exposure to print via home literacy experiences. Finds that phonological and orthographic processing skills are separable…

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.…

Highlights the benefits of a multisensory, hands-on, learning center approach to teaching phonics. Presents specific aspects of the teaching method, accompanied by a parent component, which details steps parents can take to participate in their child's education and reinforce their children's classroom experience. (SD)

A study that examined perceptions and knowledge of 252 preservice educators and 286 inservice educators about early reading instruction found inservice educators had more positive attitudes about explicit code instruction and preservice educators were more positive about implicit code instruction. However, both groups demonstrated limited…

A learning situation in which the principal content of what is to be learned is not given but is independently discovered by the learner is often considered "discovery learning." Recently, learning scientists have been able to make explicit some of the conditions under which such independent discovery is likely to occur (Andronis, 1983; Epstein,…

Prepared for teachers, school administrators, parents, and other members of the interested public, this summary of Marilyn Jager Adams'"Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print" selects from the complex and extensive body of research in the book to present a more direct but much less detailed account of useful, research-based…

Nursery rhymes and written phonics used in a meaningful context are valuable teaching methods which can be applied in a whole language classroom or in conjunction with a basal reading program. Because nursery rhymes are rooted in oral tradition they lend themselves to oral presentation. They provide forms for the oral beginnings of the best of…

The vocabulary lists from five basal readers were examined in an effort (1) to determine what information is taught in the form of phonic generalizations in current, primary-level basal readers; (2) to examine intraprogram reliability of those generalizations; and (3) to determine whether the content of generalization instruction had changed since…

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THREE APPROACHES TO TEACHING BEGINNING READING AND THE INFLUENCE OF AN ORAL LANGUAGE STIMULATION PROGRAM ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN IS REPORTED IN THE FIRST-YEAR REPORT OF A 2-YEAR INTERVENTION STUDY. SUBJECTS WERE 608 FIRST-GRADE PUPILS FROM 12 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS IN AN INNER-CITY AREA. THE THREE EXPERIMENTAL…

A linguistic reading-typewriting program for beginning readers is described. It is based on the idea that combining reading and typing into a single program allows the child the benefit and motivation of learning to read that which he writes and to write that which he reads. It provides the child an opportunity to develop his own experience…

This paper proposes that phonics and meaning instruction in beginning reading programs can be designed to be mutually supportive. The first section outlines attempts to modify a commercially available reading program in order to provide useful phonics instruction strategies. Students showed strong gains on achievement tests after implementation of…

After a discussion of the code-emphasis versus phonics-emphasis controversy, strategies for improving the teaching of decoding skills are presented. It is recommended (1) that only those phonic generalizations that are of high utility be taught, and revisions of phonics generalizations be made to make them even more inclusive and useful; (2) that…

The effects of the use of traditional series readiness workbooks and subsequent delay in beginning reading instruction on reading achievement at the middle and end of first grade were investigated. Fifty-seven percent of the children in a suburban school district used traditional readiness workbooks and of the remaining 43%, some used non-series…

Descriptions of reading programs and services related to elementary reading instruction in 16 Washington, D.C. schools are included in this report. Data are reported for grade levels only and combines information for all schools. Basal readers are the most commonly used materials, with approaches used with these materials varying greatly across…

Describes a program that associates phonics instruction with children's earliest reading and writing, using the ERIS method to teach sound/letter correspondences and to provide opportunities for writing and reading. (NKA)