Two experiments evaluated whether picture mnemonics help prereaders learn letter-sound associations. Pictures integrating the associations were compared with disassociated pictures and a no-picture control group. Children taught with integrated mnemonics learned more letter-sound associations and more letter-picture associations than the other two…

Finds a significant positive relationship between fourth-grade students' reading ability and their ability to make appropriate decisions about English spelling. Suggests how classroom practice might be modified to facilitate children's understanding of orthographic structure. (FL)

Presents a case study in which an adult student with prediction strengths needed graphophonic skills. Discusses two remedial strategies. (FL)

Noting that phonemic awareness has been identified as an essential skill that prepares children for reading, this book contains 130 phonemic awareness activities suitable for small-group learning in preschools, prekindergarten programs, Head Start programs, child care centers, and home-based programs. Reflecting the teaching strategies of the…

This news digest issue, which accompanies a bibliography titled "Learning Strategies for Students with Learning Disabilities", focuses on two promising interventions for students with learning disabilities: helping students develop their use of learning strategies and helping them develop their phonological awareness. In the first…

This 15-minute videotape describes the NewPhonics program, a developmentally appropriate program specifically for kindergarten and pre-first grade that fosters the skills necessary for early literacy learning. The video addresses the two necessary skills that children must possess to experience success in the early stages of literacy learning:…

This study compares the vowel-sound associations of normal and learning disabled children on regularly spelled (major pattern) words, irregularly spelled (minor pattern) words, and nonsense words following the same orthographic structures. The 60 subjects were matched on word recognition ability, as well as age. (Author/PN)

Concludes that fourth-grade children were able to apply more phonics terms than they could define and that high ability readers could define more terms than could low level readers. (FL)

The study investigated the phenomenon of invented spelling in the original composition of 10 first grade and 10 second grade native Spanish speaking children enrolled in a bilingual program. From an examination of over 200 pieces of writing, categories of spelling have been suggested and examples of each are given. (Author/NQA)

Jorm did not, as Ellis (TM 504 892) implies, propose that developmental and acquired phonemic-deep dyslexia are functionally equivalent. Rather, Jorm identified functional similarities. Most of Ellis' criticisms are irrelevant because they are directed at this equivalency. (Author/CP)

The phonics method of teaching decoding skills appeals to adult readers because of its logical application of real and apparent phoneme/symbol correspondences. Instead of memorization, a low level cognitive skill, adults are challenged to use perceptions of the correspondences gained inductively. (Author/CSS)

Results refute current claims that words are read aloud by retrieving a single pronunciation from memory and that pseudowords are pronounced by using abstract spelling-to-sound rules. Instead, it appears that words and pseudowords are pronounced using similar kinds of orthographic and phonological knowledge. (Author/CP)

Examines the development of grapheme-phoneme conversion ability in normal and reading-age matched dyslexic readers. Thirty-six normal readers (mean age 9.5 years) and 18 children diagnosed dyslexic (mean age 12.1 years) served as subjects. (MP)

Describes a pictogram system in which letters are made to look like human and animal characters as a way of teaching phonics to children; tells how teachers have imaginatively implemented the system through activities in such areas as drama, singing, and story telling. (GT)

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if beginning readers with accelerated sight word vocabularies would identify more functional spelling patterns than beginning readers not making the same progress. (HOD)