Offers some suggestions that can be used to maximize the literacy learning that can and needs to occur during independent learning time. Presents three possible classroom organizational structures, and elaborates on the one that many teachers are (re)discovering: learning centers. Concludes that independent activities must set up children for…

Examines beginning readers' performances with great scrutiny to look at both the quantity and quality of words skipped during reading. Finds that students' performances substantiated Paulson's findings that readers did not fixate on every word. Leads to some additional insights concerning readers' eye movements and the implications for reading…

Discusses implementing and evaluating the effectiveness of literature circles with second grade students. Includes three student profiles. Finds that using literature circles can facilitate development of students' analytical skills. (NH)

Uses a social constructivist framework to investigate how five children at the end of first grade constructed images of themselves as readers with a purpose. Presents data in the form of narratives describing the children and their views. Discusses the children's reading identities and purposes for reading as condensed into five categories:…

Describes one teacher's unhappiness with the teaching situation because of the school district's recent adoption of a systematic intense phonics instruction program that every K-3 teacher is required to use with every child via whole group instruction. Argues for the importance of whole language instruction. (SG)

Focuses on the use of music as instructional material in early literacy instruction. Uses specific examples of music to highlight concepts of print, a sense of story and sequence, phonemic awareness and phonics, background knowledge and vocabulary, basic spelling patterns, and early writing activities. Concludes with an invitation for…

Explores the consequences for children and teachers when a scripted literacy program eliminates time for thoughtfulness. Examines some implicit and explicit expectations of children's talk during read-aloud time by sharing a study of response conducted in a multiethnic, primary grade classroom. (SG)

During a school year, samples of words written by three groups of children of successive ages were collected. Two groups of children were in first and second year of Kindergarten (4 and 5 years of age), when alphabetic rules were not taught in a systematic way. The third group was in first year of Primary School (6 years of age), and was being…

This article synthesizes results from 5 studies that used noncertified tutors to work with at-risk primary-grade readers. Each of the studies featured (1) twice-weekly tutoring lessons that included guided reading, word study, and reading for fluency; and (2) supervision of the tutoring by a knowledgeable reading teacher. Results from the 5…

This annotated bibliography and resource guide lists 29 references concerning reading instruction of young children with learning disabilities. Items include articles, books, and research reports, dating from 1988 through 1994. Items are listed alphabetically by author. Each listing includes bibliographic information and a brief abstract…

This information sheet (the third in a new government series published for teachers, parents, and others interested in current education themes) offers a brief overview of Reading Recovery, an early intervention program to help low-achieving 6-year-olds learn to read. The information sheet discusses what Reading Recovery is, what its components…

A study was conducted to determine ways in which student learning styles could be accommodated in a whole language classroom. The Reading Style Inventory (RSI) developed by Marie Carbo which follows the Dunn model of learning styles was chosen for the study. The RSI was administered to 10 students in 2 second/third combination grade whole language…

A pilot project in Eastern Lancaster County School District, Pennsylvania, will use portfolio assessment in a Chapter 1 program. Based on test data and the input of classroom teachers, Chapter 1 tutors and classroom teachers will collaborate to identify two or three goals for each individual student, who will be asked to commit to them and add one…

The reading profession's current emphasis on whole language may have helped to raise the recurring debate between meaning-based (whole language) and phonics-based (code emphasis) approaches to teaching reading. As some researchers have linked whole language with whole word, phonics advocates have come forth with renewed vigor to offer a series of…

A study explored the possibility of instructional influence on children's passage along a developmental spelling continuum. The spelling of a group of 28 children who received intensive phonics instruction their kindergarten year was contrasted with the spelling of 24 first-grade children instructed in word-based materials. Subjects were initially…