In elementary school, an important goal of reading instruction is to enable children to read most words automatically by sight so that they can focus on learning from and enjoying what they are reading. But becoming a strong reader takes several years. Parents and caregivers need to know if a child is making good progress in learning to read.…

Background: As the value of public education is widely disputed, it is generally understood that reading is fundamental for long-term student success, regardless of the educational setting. Therefore, teacher education programs should prepare all future teachers to master the knowledge and skills needed to teach reading to students of all ages and…

Students with disabilities often find writing extremely challenging (Harris & Graham, 2016). Special educators can, however, promote tremendous gains in students' ability to write by understanding common challenges students face and mastering specific teaching techniques. Students' writing success depends on reducing how much attention and…

Several decades of research have established the critical role of phonemic awareness in the development of beginning reading. In particular, phonemic awareness makes early phonics instruction useful for children and facilitates their ability to blend letter sounds while decoding words, to learn sight words reliably, and to spell phonetically. A…

Offers views on the reading-spelling relationship by two spelling researchers, Jerry Zutell and J. Richard Gentry. Points out that all research supports some degree of formal word study. (MG)

This study explores the long-term effectiveness of two differing models of early intervention for children with reading difficulties: Reading Recovery and a specific phonological training. Approximately 400 children were pre-tested, 95 were assigned to Reading Recovery, 97 to Phonological Training and the remainder acted as controls. In the short…

Investigates the contributions of visual orthographic (analogy) and phonological processes in mediating nonword reading in children with dyslexia. Finds that children with dyslexia were the least likely to regularize nonword pronunciation and secondly, that all groups displayed an overall preference for words that were phonologically manipulated.…

Considers the ways in which children learn orthographic rules. Argues that children typically go through three steps in learning a new rule, and outlines these steps. Concludes that these steps are similar to the theoretical sequence proposed by Piaget for children's construction of logical rules. (SG)

Discusses a study which found that the purposeful misspelling of words in advertising influenced the correct spelling of the words by children; these results have implications for the teaching of spelling and reading. (JM)

States that in the 1970s, sight words existed in a "topsy-turvy world" in which the variety of definitions was confusing. Suggests that readers recognize sight words as single, holistic units without segmenting and attending to letters one at a time, and without sounding out and blending letters sequentially. Explains the connection…

Eleven mildly handicapped elementary students were taught to spell new words by using spelling patterns from known words. Control Ss learned to read and spell sight word vocabulary. Experimental Ss were significantly superior in spelling high-frequency sight words and untrained transfer words. (Author/CL)

Reports three experiments investigating the use of analogies in spelling acquisition. Observes comparable use of analogies in children with comparable lexical knowledge independently of their grade level or alphabetic skills. Suggests that children establish specific orthographic knowledge from the beginning of literacy acquisition and use this…

Describes nine categories of phonics/word study learning that have been drawn from research and cross-checked with the experiences of hundreds of teachers. Describes a workable structure for delivering systematic phonics instruction. Presents and describes a six-part word study structure. (SG)

Discusses empirical evidence supporting the idea that both skilled reading and learning to read capitalize on underlying phonological representations. Explains that phonological dyslexia is related to some anomaly in speech perception capabilities, making it difficult to both develop efficient conscious segmentation abilities and…

Examines the correlates of spelling impairment in children with histories of early speech sound disorders. Reveals that children with preschool speech sound and language problems become poorer spellers at school age than did children with preschool speech sound disorders only. Concludes that familial aggregation of spelling disorders suggests a…