Describes "Easy Steps to Reading Independence" (ESTRI), a new phonics-linguistics approach. Provides field study data that show statistically significant advantages for ESTRI in eight out of fourteen cases. (RL)

This study with 12 2nd- and 3rd-grade students with mild disabilities compared memory for new reading words following instructional sessions in which either word meaning or phonic cues were emphasized. The phonic instruction resulted in a greater number of words remembered either within sentences or on word lists. (Author/DB)

New readers must be taught a variety of decoding skills to allow them to increase fluency and get on with the process of meaning making. Four of the most important strategies of decoding are: (1) using context clues; (2) developing a sight vocabulary of whole words; (3) analyzing the parts of words; and (4) attending to the letter-sound (phonics)…

Factors were investigated under acquisition and retention conditions which might be expected to counteract interference brought on by mixing sight and phonics methods. Experiment 1 dealt with training kindergarten children to attend to and encode letter pattern cues and the word's contextual cues. Subjects were trained individually in a series of…

A PROGRAM IN BEGINNING READING AND LISTENING SKILLS, INCLUDING COMPREHENSION OF WRITTEN AND SPOKEN LANGUAGE, IS DESCRIBED. THE PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO ACCOMPLISH CLEARLY DEFINED INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS AND IS CONSTANTLY EVALUATED AND REVISED IN LIGHT OF ACTUAL CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE. INDIVIDUALS FROM REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES, UNIVERSITIES, AND…

Four possible alternative approaches for developing word recognition skills (including sample lesson plans for both primary and intermediate grades) were presented. The first emphasized the importance of the relative order of difficulty of word analysis skills involving phonic abilities and auditory and visual discrimination in both primary and…

Uses a dialogue format to examine the nature of the reading process, including the aspects of decoding, encoding, interpretation, and application. Includes British references. (VJ)

CD-ROM storybooks can support the development of the five essential elements of reading instruction identified by The National Reading Panel: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Specific features inherent in these texts, audio pronunciation of text, embedded vocabulary definitions and animated graphics can be used…

Numerous reviews of the experimental research conclude that phonics is indispensable in word recognition instruction. However, there have been numerous objections to phonics teaching over the years. Some of the intolerance of phonics teaching reflects a lack of knowledge about the subject. Critics suggest that phonics hinders children's learning…

The debate between the whole language approach and the word-centered skills approach to beginning reading instruction is likely to continue into the next decade, so it seems crucial that educators at all levels understand thoroughly the views held by the participants. Advocates of the whole language approach believe effective readers see meaning…

The Dyslexia Training Program, a remedial reading program derived from Orton-Gillingham methods, embodies principles of structured phonetic instruction, drill and repetition, and multisensory methodology. Following the two-year program, dyslexic students (N=22) demonstrated significantly higher reading recognition and comprehension than a control…

The Ekwall Reading Inventory is a set of reading passages ranging in difficulty from preprimer through ninth-grade level and contains instruments for assessing students' knowledge of letters, phonics, basic sight words, vowel rules and syllable principles, and contractions. The reading passages are designed to measure students' oral and silent…

A model for the measurement of reading skills was used as the basis for the development of the Decoding Skills Test. The model emphasizes that decoding skills are based on one of two processes: word recognition through phonic/linguistic decoding or through basal word recognition. Word lists appropriate for the elementary grades were used to…

Over 100 simple, easy-to-make activities for building specific reading skills in six areas, readiness, sight word knowledge, phonetic analysis, structural analysis, comprehension, and critical reading, are presented for the elementary teacher to use as tools in individualizing reading instruction. Each game activity has been tested and complete…