A study examined two first-grade classrooms implementing the whole language approach and two utilizing the basal reading approach to determine the differences, if any, between the treatments. The hypothesis was that the whole language reading approach when combined with a phonics program would not result in higher test scores on a standardized…

A descriptive study used survey methodology to determine first-grade teachers' theoretical orientations toward reading and students' attitudes toward reading, as well as structured classroom observations to describe teachers' reading instructional practices. Subjects, 259 of the 428 first-grade teachers (61%) in 94 elementary schools of a large…

Designed to be used primarily as a reader for first and second graders, but also as a speller and vocabulary builder for any student who needs help in language arts mastery, this book combines phonics with the "Look and Say" methods to present a step-by-step learning guide. Following an introduction explaining the five-step procedure…

This Manual provides the foundation for a reading and spelling course which avoids use of the phonic method. Instead of teaching the word as a whole and afterward subjecting it to phonic analysis, this Synthetic Method takes the sounds of the letters for the starting point, and with these sounds lay a foundation firm and broad, upon which is built…

This publication contains papers contributed to the fifth Perspectives of Reading conference of the International Reading Association which focused on the teaching of beginning reading. The following approaches are described and evaluated: (1) individualized reading, (2) basal reading, (3) linguistic approach, (4) phonics approach, (5) new…

Part 1 describes a followup study of the effects of three types of beginning reading programs on reading achievement of second graders predicted by pretests as likely to have difficulty learning to read. Forty first-grade classrooms participated, 10 classes for each treatment. All treatment A classes received instruction using the basal program.…

Research indicates a strong relationship between early phoneme awareness and later reading success and the benefits of explicitly teaching phoneme awareness skills. This article presents a set of developmental phoneme awareness training activities that the special educator can integrate collaboratively into existing kindergarten and first-grade…

Used participant observation, child interviews, and teacher meetings to examine reading strategies that emerged in a first-grade, multiethnic, urban classroom over 20 weeks. Found that children used five reading strategies, including narrative storytelling, relying on memory, and word-for-word reading; tensions emerged between strategies that…

Describes the successes of Writing to Read (WTR) program used with students in kindergarten and grade one as well as with two key subgroups (low-socioeconomic students and males who lag behind in reading and writing). Finds that with this program these subgroups can progress in reading and writing, and fewer students are recommended for remedial…

A follow-up at the end of first grade examined effects of teaching five kindergarten teachers in general and special education classes to stimulate phonological manipulation skills such as blending and segmenting. For children with learning disabilities and mild mental retardation (but not for nondisabled children) the treatment continued to show…

Twenty-three first-graders at risk for learning disabilities received one-to-one tutoring from noncertified tutors for 30 minutes, 4 days a week, for one school year. Tutoring included instruction in phonological skills, explicit decoding, writing, spelling, and reading phonically controlled text. Participants significantly outperformed controls…

The materials included in this manual are organized according to the Indiana Grade 1 Academic Standards for English/Language Arts. In each section teachers will find: (1) Indiana Grade 1 Academic Standards for English/Language Arts; (2) Assessments: diagnostic/practice pages for skill areas, checklists, and rubrics; (3) Classroom Activities:…

A study examined an early reading intervention program designed to lead children, identified with low reading readiness at the start of first grade, to an appropriate reading level by the end of a 6-month period. Subjects were students entering first grade in a middle class community in northern Illinois. The problems of low reading readiness were…

The applicability of phonics generalizations, particularly the rule "When two vowels go walking the first one does the talking and the second one is silent," is examined in this paper. The first section reports on a study of the applicability of the two vowel rule to words in first- and second-grade basal readers and on a core vocabulary list; the…

This inservice professional development module, part of the Alabama Reading Initiative, presents research summaries, notes for presenters, and activities. The Phonemic Awareness and Phonics module clarifies that skilled readers are accurate and automatic decoders (i.e., they have the alphabetic principle). Phonics instruction must empower all…