This guide to reading instruction for elementary and middle school students with learning difficulties covers a wide variety of practical instructional strategies founded in research and proven effective in classrooms. An introductory chapter notes the growing national emphasis on reading skills, especially research-based reading programs and the…

Describes the formation of the new "California Reading Initiative" that directly ties school funding to practices such as teaching phonemic awareness and systematic, explicit phonics. Assesses its research base, and discusses problems in teaching Limited-English-Proficient students to read following its directives. Presents research that supports…

Focusing on research about children's acquisition of reading and spelling skills, this paper discusses the larger picture of reading acquisition, issues addressed by research, and results of this research. The paper cites numerous studies on the subject, including studies on whether environmental print experiences enable young children to process…

Use of the syllable as a unit for initial acquisition of reading is advocated. It is argued that since English alphabetic writing is based on a mapping between sound-stream and symbol, a decoding approach is necessary at early stages of the acquisition process. However, conventional phonics methods confound two very difficult tasks in initial…

This study describes a program designed to improve student reading fluency. The targeted population consisted of first and third grade students in a growing urban community in the Midwest. Evidence for the existence of the problem included standardized test scores and independent computer reports that measured academic achievement, phonic…

The reliance of 12, 18, and 22 children in grades 2, 4, and 6, respectively, on context- versus word-based information was studied. Factor analysis of error scores yielded a structure reflecting 3 information sources: graphophonic information; context to identify words; and comprehension monitoring. Age differences in decoding strategies were…

This scope and sequence chart was developed in South Carolina to aid adult literacy tutors. The chart is divided into four strands that represent the major components of reading: phonics; comprehension/critical thinking; communication; and life skills. Each strand is divided into skill areas that were considered to be major areas of need for adult…

The purpose of the third edition of this book is to explore what must be involved in reading by addressing such topics as language, information theory, learning theory, the development of spoken language ability, and the physiology of the eye and brain. It is designed to serve as a handbook for language arts teachers, a text on the psychology of…

Intended for reading teachers and teacher educators, this book provides an analysis of 12 fallacious beliefs thought to be responsible for the perpetuation of ineffective and inappropriate approaches to reading instruction. The introduction looks at the dangers of the myths that underlie reading instruction, discusses how the myths arise out of an…

Creating a link between current research findings and classroom practice, this book analyzes, compares, and critiques prevalent classroom strategies in beginning reading instruction in light of expertise available in other countries. The book begins with a section on "Points of Departure," consisting of three chapters:…

This text on multisensory structured language education (MSLE) provides the foundation for MSLE and offers components of instruction and effective teaching strategies that teachers can put into practice for students with dyslexia and others struggling to learn to read, write, and spell. Chapters include: (1) "Multisensory Instruction" (Louisa C.…

Discusses current research on how children understand the symbol system and its link to meaning; how they learn to write like authors, including editing and writing for different audiences; how they learn to become literary critics and to discover new worlds in books; and how different classroom contexts can encourage different types of literacy…

In this paper, we discuss the link between effective literacy practices recommended by the International Reading Association and current research on how the brain learns derived from MRI and PET scan studies begun in the 1990's. Five key areas of brain-based research discussed include time and attention, emotion, the nature of memory, the learning…