Examines computer modeling of the reading process and the instructional technology of basals, the two pillars of Marilyn Adams text, "Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print." Explains why the author believes Adams is fundamentally wrong in her theoretical approach to reading instruction. (MG)

Interviews Marilyn Jager Adams about her book "Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print." Discusses the critical issues of phonics versus whole language and what she hopes teachers will gain from the book. (MG)

Findings from a study of 504 second grade students indicate that phonics knowledge has a causal impact on both reading comprehension and vocabulary gains; reading comprehension has a causal effect on vocabulary gains. (Author/IAH)

This paper describes the Reading Recovery program implemented at a special needs school in Kiel, Germany. The program is intended to offer primary-grade pupils a second chance to obtain reading and writing skills. The highly structured reading program involves isolation of difficulties, work on word structure, learning consonant-vowel combinations…

Trains 94 first graders using a structured phonological reading method emphasizing English phonology and phoneme/grapheme correspondence. Compares to a control group who received a whole-language-plus-phonics approach. Notes that children in all groups improved their phonological awareness by the same amount. Concludes that phonological awareness…

Finds that children identified as at-risk for reading disability scored higher on numerous measures of reading achievement after receiving two years of instruction in a structured phonics code-emphasis approach compared to similar children taught using a "context" approach in which children are taught to first identify unknown words using the…

Studies beginning readers' response to phonological skills using specific computer programs. Observes three different training programs: training in blending separate letter sounds into words using computer programs; training in vocabulary also using computer programs; and training provided by teachers performing activities to promote phonological…

A first-grade teacher explains how she uses the whole-part-whole reading model with 15 youngsters. Rereading allows students to practice recently learned skills and strategies, while developing fluency and comprehension. Other exercises include reading aloud in pairs, deciphering the daily schedule, discussions of syllable and sound similarities,…

Presents phonic activities based on brand names for teaching primary students basic reading. The first uses familiar brand-name products with rhyming elements in their names. The second has teachers write longer words that rhyme with and have similar spelling patterns to product names. Both activities help students use patterns in familiar words…

Recently, investigators have begun to pay increasing attention to the role of teachers' domain-specific knowledge in the area of reading, and its implications for both classroom practice and student learning. The aims of the present study were to assess kindergarten to third grade teachers' actual and perceived reading related subject matter…

Noting that parent involvement could be the single most important factor in children's success in school, this book helps parents act as tutors in reading and writing for their kindergarten children. It offers both general guidelines and specific strategies and activities to use for accomplishing specific objectives, such as improving decoding…

Extending the editors' system for word study, this book presents essays by scholars and practitioners who explore letter and word learning in a variety of reading, writing, and language contexts in the primary classroom, with articles that range from detailed observations of individual readers and writers to full-scale analyses of classroom…

This study sought to determine whether prospective teachers at Utah's Brigham Young University (BYU) could articulate in writing appropriate instructional strategies for teaching the letter sounds to beginning readers in the first grade. The study was designed to be the first in a series of studies to find out if Elementary Education students are…

Based on the premise that schools apparently fail to match reading instruction to children's needs, this study was conducted to learn about the process of changing teacher behavior in such a way that a match exists between what is taught and who is being taught. Year-long observation of one kindergarten program that was supplemented with attempts…

A year-long, quasi-experimental study investigated the comparative effects of a whole language approach and a code emphasis approach upon the emergent literacy of 53 girls in two kindergarten classes in an all girls' parochial school in the Northeast. Subjects in the experimental class received instruction in Holdaway's Shared Book Experience…