The purpose of this meta-analysis was to assess the overall effects of automaticity training of fundamental literacy component skills (i.e., letter names/sounds, individual words) on reading fluency and comprehension. Another purpose was to assess if the effects of automaticity training varied for reading fluency and comprehension. We identified…

Designed to motivate word study in fifth graders, this learning center includes five separate stations with activities in etymology and language study. (SJL)

The purpose of this study was to determine if differences existed between second- and fifth-grade students' word recognition errors, and if differences existed between the word attack strategies utilized by them. Using the Informal Reading Inventory, a random sample of twenty-five second graders and twenty-five fifth graders was taken from three…

Investigates whether a computer-based word study method, emphasizing automaticity of response, would improve students' word recognition, spelling, and oral reading performance. Finds support for a verbal efficiency theory of reading, in which the key to developing reading efficiency is developing word recognition that is automatic. (RS)

Developed by the Oregon Elementary English Project, these two sections are part of a unit on words. The first section, consisting of 5 lessons, aims to make the student aware of (1) words as an integral part of the language and (2) the tremendous number of words he already knows and can use. The second section, "What We Know about…

An action research project describes a cross-age tutoring program to help increase the reading achievement of targeted second graders. The targeted population consisted of second and fifth graders in a middle class suburban community west of a large midwestern city. The problems of poor word attack skills and reading comprehension were documented…

A study investigated the effect of properties of words and texts on the incidental learning of word meanings during normal reading. Subjects--352 students in third, fifth, and seventh grades--read either expository or narrative passages selected from grade-level textbooks, and after six days were tested on their knowledge of difficult words from…

This study compares the effect of the objectives-based test collections of the Instructional Objectives Exchange (10X) on reading comprehension and word-attack skills of fifth-grade students in a basal reader program. The 10X, a nonprofit educational organization, was established in the late 1960s to provide educators with instructional materials…