The authors outline the basic structure of akshara, the basic unit of writing in Indic writing systems used widely in South and Southeast Asia; present preliminary studies relating to reading, assessment, and instruction of akshara; and outline recommendations for future studies.

Examines arguments favoring direct teaching of reading vocabulary and those favoring extensive reading to develop vocabulary, concluding that direct vocabulary instruction is still appropriate. (HTH)

Presents two activities for building elementary school students' vocabulary skills and increasing their knowledge of phonics and spelling patterns. The primary activity involves word mapping. The intermediate activity helps students pronounce and understand unfamiliar, multisyllabic words. A reproducible page on vocabulary strategies is included.…

This science-oriented reading readiness text is provided in two versions: English and Navajo. It consists of large black-and-white drawings of animals and insects familiar to the southwestern U.S. One picture is provided on each page, labeled with the sentence, "This is a [name of the animal]." The two booklets are identical except for…

This science-oriented reading readiness text is provided in two versions: English and Navajo. It consists of large black-and-white drawings of animals, birds, and insects familiar to the Southwestern U.S. One picture is provided on each page, labeled with the following simple sentences: "This is a [name of the animal]. He lives in [name of…

Suggests ways to adapt basal reading instruction to content area reading instruction. Includes adaptations of three common basal procedures: (1) setting the purpose; (2) developing a vocabulary; and (3) discussing the selection. (JAD)

The effectiveness of the Three Owls Reading Method was tested, using 53 children from a Head Start program. The Three Owls system combines sight, phonic, and linguistic reading methods with movement and touch modes of instruction. After a pretest for phonic letter recognition, the students were matched and assigned to one of two classes in a…

This science-oriented reading readiness text is provided in three versions: English, Spanish and Navajo. It consists of large black-and-white drawings of birds, animals and insects familiar to the southwestern U.S. One picture is provided on each page, with the name of the animal printed in large type beneath the picture. The three booklets are…

Describes a study of the Vancouver Project (British Columbia), integrating the Ashton-Warner Key Vocabulary approach to beginning reading instruction into nine open classrooms. (BF)

Contends that developing an interest in a particular topic is the first step in getting students ready to read in the social studies. Maintains the teacher must find ways of using what children already know and couple this with their experiential background to fulfill the need for establishing familiarity before reading. (TRS)

The criteria of 75 percent utility for phonetic rules to be used in reading instruction may be based on faulty logic. Once children achieve approximate pronunciation by applying phonetic rules, they usually can infer proper pronunciation. This supports teaching children to find and pronounce little words in larger unknown words. (MCK)

For purposes of this paper, author considers the focal issue to be that of teaching decoding skills and confines her definition of reading to the teaching of only these decoding skills. (Author/MB)

Describes a series of class activities with bilingual children aged four through seven that foster reading in either language by building personal vocabulary collections. Construction of their own reading vocabularies can engage young students in reading relevant words that are invested with emotion and meaning. (SV)