This established text and teacher resource is now in a revised and updated third edition, with a broader focus on whole-class instruction as well as small-group and individualized intervention. The evidence-based Interactive Strategies Approach (ISA) provides a clear framework for supporting literacy development in grades K-3, particularly for…

This bestselling book provides indispensable tools and strategies for explicit, systematic phonics instruction in K-3. Teachers learn effective ways to build students' decoding skills by teaching letter-sound relationships, blending, word building, multisyllabic decoding, fluency, and more. The volume is packed with engaging classroom activities,…

This study examined 120 Victorian preservice and inservice teachers' ability to implement evidence-based, early literacy instruction by examining whether teachers possessed positive perceptions of explicit instruction in sound-letter relationships, and a proficient knowledge of language structure. Teachers' confidence in teaching students of known…

Contrast is one of the great principles of any art--two things that are different are put side-by-side so that both can be seen for comparison. This paper considers initially two kinds of contrast in phonics: the sounds of the five short vowels (a e i o u); and the sequence from left-to-right in sounding out the letters. The paper states that…

Finding Internet sites useful in the K-3 classroom and library can be a challenge. Between needing activities that will allow the users to be independent, searching for sites without a great deal of advertisements, and checking to be sure that any information gathered is kept private and respects the user's safety, it may b difficult to provide…

Intended for teachers of grades K-2, this book is a practical resource manual designed to provide step-by-step suggestions for assessing and instructing students' phonics skills and strategies. It presents phonological awareness as a foundation and preparation for phonics instruction and integrates the two so they become reciprocal. In addition,…

This book outlines progression in teaching and learning phonics in seven steps which are linked to the objectives in England's National Literacy Strategy Framework for Teaching. Activities for whole-class teaching are suggested for each step and instructions and materials for these activities are provided so that phonics may be taught in a lively,…

The teaching of phonics, the relationship of sounds to letters in an alphabetic language like English, is important for success in learning to read competently. Noting that there continues to be much debate as to what constitutes good phonics instruction, this paper presents a rather simple but basically sound and inexpensive approach for teaching…

This article describes a teacher-created instructional phonics program that shares philosophical underpinnings of the whole-language movement which is not always adequate in helping at-risk beginning readers. In this program, phonics is taught directly in a way that is natural, authentic, interesting, meaningful, and fun for children. (JDD)

To determine the usefulness of two commonly taught phonics rules concerning the pronounciation of two-syllable words, a study analyzed more than 138,000 words in the "New Grolier Webster International Dictionary of the English Language." The rules state that (1) a vowel is short when the only vowel in a syllable is not the last letter in…

Students individually need to experience success in reading, be it a systematic approach in phonics or in whole language procedures. Quality action research, conducted within the local school/school system, needs to be conducted to notice which of these two procedures of reading instruction best meets student needs. Each student needs to achieve…

Boom! Br-r-ring! Cluck! Moo!--exciting sounds are everywhere. Whether visiting online sites that play sounds or taking a "sound hike," ask your students to notice the sounds they hear, then write their own book, using sound words, based on Dr. Seuss's "Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You?" During the three 45-minute sessions, grade K-2…

An analogy is drawn between understanding Shakespeare's work and the debate about teaching beginning reading. The apparent ease of reading is seen to mask its very real complexity. The importance of the early reading environment for readiness and the necessity of teaching sounds and then words is stressed. Tips for teaching phonological awareness…

The article describes how to teach skills strategically in whole-language classrooms. It discusses differences between skills and strategies and notes how to move from skill to strategy. A section on teaching phonics examines phonics charts and personal phonics booklets; suggests an order for teaching phonics. (SM)

In a new compact and easy-to-use edition, this book presents a program that provides students with a developmentally appropriate framework in which students become proficient spellers and at the same time develop as readers and writers. The book includes the original spelling instruction program; spelling dictation lists for grades 1 to 3; an…