A retarded boy, unable to read orally or with comprehension, was taught to match spoken to printed words and was then capable of reading comprehension (matching printed words to picture) and oral reading (naming printed words aloud), demonstrating that certain learned auditory-visual equivalences are sufficient prerequisites for reading…

"The Critical Word Factor," based on word recognition demands of texts, is a measure of text difficulty designed specifically for texts used by beginning readers. The measure is a function of the number of new, unique words per 100 running words of text that fall outside a designated curriculum. The authors investigated the validity of the…

During the first year of the program, 27 individual projects enrolling approximately 20,000 first-grade pupils were involved. Fifteen of these projects participated in a second-grade followup study. Some conclusions based on an analysis of data are (1) that prereading knowledge of letter names is the best single predictor of reading achievement in…

In order to ascertain the effectiveness of a short instructional program involving four marking skills required in following directions, a study was conducted with six kindergarten classes (130 children) taught by three teachers. The experimental and control groups in each class were given the pretest and posttest on the same days; otherwise, the…

Purpose: Some researchers (F. R. Vellutino, F. M. Scanlon, & M. S. Tanzman, 1994) have argued that the different domains comprising language (e.g., phonology, semantics, and grammar) may influence reading development in a differential manner and at different developmental periods. The purpose of this study was to examine proposed causal…

An effective tool for motivating children to read and for reinforcing their reading skills, creative drama includes all forms of improvised drama--dramatic play, pantomime, puppet shows, and story dramatization--and all four of the major language arts--listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The use of creative drama activities lets children…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between performance on Piagetian conservation tasks and the ability to form hypotheses as to the probable content of story material among first and second grade children. Cognitive operations selected for comparison were operations concerning conservation of mass, conservation of…

Research has informed educators about the value of preparing students for reading in the content areas, but how do teachers begin the complicated task of planning effective prereading activities that maximize their students' learning? This book provides practical activities that promote the learning of adolescents in their daily work in content…

This bulletin presents four papers on how to control, manipulate, and predict the readability of printed materials. The first paper describes trends in readability brought about by research tools developed by psychologists and linguists. The second paper explores the effects of word frequency in printed materials on comprehension and concludes…

Reviews studies dealing with dyslexia, reading development, and reading materials and interests. (DF)

Examines comprehension strategies experienced readers use to deal with very difficult text. (HOD)

This handbook, prepared by teachers enrolled in the 1992 summer session of Reading 508 at Northeast Louisiana State University (Monroe, Louisiana) under the guidance of Dr. Harry Miller, discusses (in separate sections) reading readiness, word recognition, vocabulary development, and reading comprehension. Each section of the book also presents…

A study was conducted to determine: (1) the relationships between prior knowledge and passage recall; (2) the effect of a prereading activity (PReP) on available knowledge; and (3) the effect of the PReP activity on total comprehension scores. The subjects were 161 sixth grade students from a middle class suburban Long Island, New York, public…

The purpose of this investigation was to examine syntax comprehension by poor and average prereaders in first grade and poor and average readers in second grade, to determine whether a relationship exists between reading ability or reading readiness and comprehension of syntax. Subjects were 55 first-grade children and 56 second-grade children of…

Two hundred and eight first graders were assigned to one of three treatment groups. Treatment A received initial instruction in letter names followed by sight words; treatment B received initial instruction in letter names and sounds followed by sight words; and treatment C received initial instruction in sight words followed by letter names and…