The utility value of the final vowel-consonant-e phonic generalization was examined using 2,715 common English words. When the vowel was defined as a single-vowel, the consonant as a single-consonant, and the final e as a single-e the generalization was found to be highly useful, contrary to other recent findings. Using the total sample of 2,715…

Explores the characteristics and implications of the "new sentence method" of learning to read. (JM)

Briefly discusses research on consonant substitution and presents a five-step teaching strategy to help beginning readers use the words they know to figure out the words they don't know. (JM)

Describes the work undertaken to develop a phonics-based reading program for kindergarten through third grade. (MM)

Word boxes and word sorts are two word study phonics approaches that involve teaching phonemic awareness, making letter-sound associations, and teaching spelling through the use of well-established behavioral principles. The current study examines the effectiveness of word boxes and word sorts. Findings revealed that word boxes and word sort…

Examines what is entailed in effective phonics instruction and shows how such instruction can be integrated into a wide variety of approaches to the teaching of beginning reading. Discusses nine guidelines for exemplary phonics instruction that can be incorporated into classrooms using basal readers, whole-language philosophy, or shared reading of…

In state legislatures and school boards around the country, the approach and the quality of reading instruction are under attack because of a decline in reading scores. The best reading instruction draws on the strengths of different philosophies. School boards should encourage schools to teach both phonics and the whole-language approach. (MLF)

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:…

Reading was, is, and always must come first in the early school years. Without a firm basis in reading, children are going to have a tough time in school and, later, in the world beyond the elementary school doors. Children need math and all the other wonderful things they are exposed to in school, but without some degree of success in reading,…

This monograph reviews discussions of the nature of syllables, in order to determine the usefulness of the syllable as a tool in teaching children to read and spell. The review found that the nature of the syllable remains controversial; there are at least four different definitions in the contemporary literature. The sharpest disagreements seem…

Prepared to guide the nonprofessional in helping another person learn to read, this book consists of systematic phonics for the remedial or beginning reader. Some of the pages in the book are addressed to the tutor and some to the learner. Introductory material includes descriptions of reading, the teacher, phonics, tools used in learning to read,…

The research reported here was designed to examine a number of factors that findings from verbal learning studies indicate should affect the recall and transfer of word identification materials. Sight word and phonics-based or rule-based learning were investigated in 112 kindergarteners who were identified as nonreaders. Groups were trained on…

The strategies used by children in word recognition are examined. A critical review of some of the classical research which has influenced current thinking about how words are recognized is presented along with a discussion of some of the errors which can be found in these studies. A five-stage model of how beginning readers learn to recognize…