Details events from the experiences of two young children as they learned written language. Concludes that children need to have a say in why and what they are reading. (FL)

Documents how a preschool child learns to read. Identifies what teachers need to know if they are to continue the reader's own discoveries and delight in language. (EL)

Describes the Early Literacy Tutorial, which targets primary school students falling behind in reading. Teachers and assistants receive professional development on the program. Key program elements include individual tutoring, high expectations, teacher-student interactions, a holistic approach, daily reading, and ongoing assessment. Sidebars…

The Bridge Reading Program, a developmentally based teaching method that uses logographs, the pairing of words with pictures, for teaching prereading skills as well as the basic concepts of reading in the context of reading itself, is described in this handbook. The first two chapters contain background information, a rationale for the program,…

A case study of a young boy's learning to read and write from the beginnings of literacy at age 5 up to age 11, after reading and writing have converged, is the focus of this book. The first part of the book, a description of his learning to write, discusses invented spelling, research about other young spellers and writers, the shift toward…

A study examined prereaders' story processing strategies by assessing their performance on tasks that tapped their ability to (1) use story grammar and role playing, (2) retell a wordless picture book, (3) read a predictable book, (4) retell an oral story, (5) sequence pictured story events, and (6) fingerpoint-read a nursery rhyme. Parent…

The "back to basics" movement raises questions regarding the nature of reading that is assumed in instruction and testing. Of the three definitions of reading (decoding, meaning-from-page, and intellectual processes) the latter view, which sees reading as a broad range of perceptual, associative, and cognitive elements, is preferred. The…

A self-instructional unit in early reading designed for community college child care students is presented in this paper along with information about the development of the unit. Introductory chapters discuss the controversy about teaching young children to read, the systems approach used in developing the unit, and the steps followed in preparing…

This volume contains a selection of the papers presented at the fifth International Reading Association World Congress on Reading. Part one, "Reading: An Expanding Concept," contains papers that examine such topics as literal comprehension, miscue analysis, and children's literature and reading. Part two, "Some Implications for the…

This is book two in a series of beginning readers in Spanish for preschool and grade one. The program is designed to prepare children to read in Spanish by teaching the sound-symbol relationship in sequential order with simple reading selections. This book introduces "d" and "t" and reinforces the sound-symbol relationships…

A scientific approach to the teaching of reading is provided in this book. The chapters are: "Psychological Factors in Word Recognition,""Factors in Reading Ability,""Preparatory Period in Learning to Read,""A Psychological Analysis of Reading Methods,""Organization of Reading in Infant Classes,""Organization of Reading in Junior…

Children growing up in literate societies, surrounded by the printed word, begin to read and write long before they start school. The extent and scope of early literacy development is examined. Theoretical explanations of this development are offered. Implications for schools are presented. (RM)

Noting that much has been written about children who have difficulty learning to read but little has been written about children who are fluent early readers, this book explores why some children succeed in reading at a very early age. The book resulted from a 3-year research project that studied the progress of 29 English children before they…

Presents results from 2 British studies relating preschool reading skills and reading attainment reached by age 11. Substantiates and extends earlier research that correlated early letter identification with reading ability at age seven. Also indicates no support for hypothesis that letter sounding rather than naming predicts subsequent reading…

Representing a dramatic shift in education thinking, converging evidence now supports a reliance on findings from rigorous scientific research to guide education policy initiatives in the United States. Particularly for early reading instruction, scientific research has provided the framework for establishing the most effective measures for the…