An intense debate exists around the most beneficial and successful method for teaching young children how to read. On the one side is sight-reading or the look-say method which promotes learning to read by immediate recognition of words learned through "memorization." In contrast to the sight method, the phonics method aims at teaching…

This report, the sixth in a series developed by the Education Commission of the States (ECS) examining the impact of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act 2001, discusses Reading First, which replaces the Reading Excellence Act. The report states that Reading First, a voluntary program, aims at having all children achieve reading proficiency by the…

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,…

This slide presentation first states the purposes of the Reading Excellence Act (REA): (1) teach every child to read by the end of the third grade; (2) improve reading instruction through the use of findings from scientifically-based reading research; (3) provide early intervention to children experiencing reading difficulties and prevent…

The America Reads Project is a program that trains San Francisco State University (SFSU) undergraduates to serve as tutors in local elementary schools. This paper focuses on the findings from the 3rd year of the project (1999-2000). For the 3rd year, 55 undergraduates were trained in a 3-unit course. Eleven elementary schools participated in…

Briefly defined, Reading Recovery is a tutorial for children who are having difficulty learning to read and write after approximately one year of school. Although it is usually described as an early intervention program, Reading Recovery defies a simple definition, since there are layers of intersecting variables. This educational report…

Since one way to study a non-reading primary child's phonics knowledge is to examine his/her invented spelling, a researcher's quandary led to a quasi-experimental design study, employed to answer three questions: (1) Do primary non-readers possess phonics knowledge? (2) Do primary non-readers possess phonemic awareness? and (3) Do primary…

This pamphlet presents a position statement by the National Council of Teachers of English on reading, suggesting that reading is a complex act of constructing meaning from print. It argues that during interactions with other readers, people learn to read critically, to question what they read, and to respond in a certain way. To make sure that…

This paper cites as selected taboos in teaching reading (identified by educators very frequently) the following: (1) homogeneous grouping; (2) round robin reading; (3) use of textbooks and workbooks in the curriculum; (4) individual endeavors in school work; (5) memorization of content; and (6) the controlled vocabulary in reading. The paper…

Describing Reading Recovery and Chapter I as two programs that emphasize a one-on-one approach in assisting pupils in learning to read, this paper considers advantages and aspects of these programs. It gives 10 reasons for stressing a single teacher assisting one pupil in learning to read and proposes how these programs may be incorporated into…

One approach in the teaching of reading that is criticized a lot is the round robin procedure in which the teacher, generally in a heterogeneously grouped classroom, forms three reading subgroups for instruction purposes. Each of the groups is as homogenous as possible. The teacher teaches one subgroup, while the other two are profitably engaged…

This report describes one of a series of pilot studies conducted to evaluate the instructional effectiveness of the "Harcourt Reading" program. This particular study focused on 7 kindergarten classes that started the study in the fall of 1999 and continued throughout the entire academic year. Students were taught selected themes using the…

Ten disadvantaged 3rd grade Ss were tested on their recognition of words judged to be either emotionally charged or or emotionally neutral, given instruction, and retested. (DB)

Discusses the difficulties children have in learning traditional orthography in reading instruction and presents the English-Unifon Alphabet as a solution, citing five advantages of using this single sound-symbol system. (RB)

The transfer phenomena observed in adults do not universally generalize to the pre-reader and training in phonic blending is necessary in order for phonic-letter training to yield positive transfer to a word-reading task. (RB)