This research described strategies used to improve the reading fluency of students. The targeted populations consisted of first, second, and third grade classes from middle class communities located in the Midwest. Evidence for the existence of this problem included teacher observation, parent surveys, and lack of progress shown on reading…

Children are often turned into deficient readers as a result of their never progressing beyond the first stage of reading--articulation of words from printed page; if provided with an enriched classroom environment, the child will learn to read with little formal instruction. (MM)

Extensive research and practical experience demonstrate that learning to read comes less naturally than learning to speak. Although half of all children intuit the alphabetic system from exposure to print and context-driven activities, many (particularly dyslexic, low-socioeconomic, and second-language kids) need an organized program that teaches…

Finds that six low-income children in two different instructional settings (skills-based and whole language) learned alphabetic concepts and skills necessary for successful reading and writing. Notes that both instructional settings provided explicit phonics instruction (albeit contextualized differently) and time for self-selected reading and for…

Observes low socioeconomic-level learners during literacy instruction for two years. Finds similarities in learner concern about accuracy. Notes that cross-curricular differences centered on applications of phonics knowledge, responses to literature, coping strategies, and learner perceptions of themselves as readers and writers. Finds a…

Describes Apple Computer's Early Language Connections (ELC) program. Designed for K-2 grades, ELC integrates Macintosh computers, children's literature, instructional software, and other curriculum materials, including sample lessons constructed around thematic units. The literature-based product uses a whole-language approach (with phonics…

This study tested whether the application and transfer of segmentation and letter knowledge to reading could be encouraged by teaching spelling alongside code-based reading instruction, with five matched pairs of kindergarten children with developmental delays. Spelling and word reading performance significantly improved for the experimental…

Comparison of "Distar Reading Mastery" and Addison Wesley's "Superkids" beginning reading programs with 81 children in transitional kindergarten special education classes found no significant differences at the end of the treatment year or at one-year follow-up. However, among children making the most gains, the Distar group…

Describes first-grade children who completed a battery of tasks that included standardized measures of word recognition and spelling, measures of phonological and orthographic processing skills, and a short indicator of exposure to print via home literacy experiences. Finds that phonological and orthographic processing skills are separable…

Revisits the literacy development of two at-risk first graders who participated in Reading Recovery for one semester, but who responded to the instruction in very different ways. Rethinks beliefs about effective instruction concerning four instructional issues: phonics and phonemic awareness, text selection, the use of context clues, and the issue…

Noting that parent involvement in student schoolwork ranks high as a cause of academic success for most children, this book helps parents act as tutors in reading and writing for their first- and second-grade children. It offers both general guidelines and specific strategies and activities to use for accomplishing specific objectives, such as…

Intended for teachers in primary education, this book draws together the most helpful contemporary thinking and research evidence about the learning and teaching of reading, especially in relation to graphophonics, and shows how these findings can be translated into effective classroom practices. The book summarizes evidence on how children learn…

A study investigated the relationship among reading style, instructional method, and reading achievement. Subjects were 213 second-grade students attending a large school in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, with 84 students using a basal reader series with a phonics emphasis, 90 students using a basal reader series with a mixed emphasis, and…

Prepared for teachers, school administrators, parents, and other members of the interested public, this summary of Marilyn Jager Adams'"Beginning to Read: Thinking and Learning about Print" selects from the complex and extensive body of research in the book to present a more direct but much less detailed account of useful, research-based…