In elementary school, an important goal of reading instruction is to enable children to read most words automatically by sight so that they can focus on learning from and enjoying what they are reading. But becoming a strong reader takes several years. Parents and caregivers need to know if a child is making good progress in learning to read.…

Background: As the value of public education is widely disputed, it is generally understood that reading is fundamental for long-term student success, regardless of the educational setting. Therefore, teacher education programs should prepare all future teachers to master the knowledge and skills needed to teach reading to students of all ages and…

More than 5 million English learners attend U.S. public schools--and yet fewer than 3% of teachers are certified to work with them. Fill that gap in teacher education with this practical and comprehensive textbook, an evidence-based guide to providing English learners in Pre-K-Grade 6 with explicit, systematic instruction on language and literacy…

We examined the efficacy of 20 weeks of individual supplemental phonics-based instruction for language minority (LM) and non-LM first graders. Students were designated LM if the primary home language was not English (otherwise non-LM). Those performing in the bottom half of their classroom LM/non-LM group in letter knowledge and phonological…

"Open Court Reading"[c] is a core reading program for grades K-6 developed by SRA/McGraw-Hill that is designed to teach decoding, comprehension, inquiry, and writing in a logical progression. Part 1 of each unit, Preparing to Read, focuses on phonemic awareness, sounds and letters, phonics, fluency, and word knowledge. Part 2, Reading…

Several decades of research have established the critical role of phonemic awareness in the development of beginning reading. In particular, phonemic awareness makes early phonics instruction useful for children and facilitates their ability to blend letter sounds while decoding words, to learn sight words reliably, and to spell phonetically. A…

The teaching of spelling is outlined and discussed in this pamphlet. Three major steps are described: the prewriting stage, teaching the principle of alphabetic writing--the understanding that spelling requires the sequencing of sounds within a word, and teaching the spelling patterns of written English. The pamphlet concludes that two current…

Discusses the pros and cons of phonics for spelling. (MP)

Suggests a spelling riddle activity that can stimulate students' awareness of the complexities of English while providing practice in dictionary skills, phonics, and vocabulary development. Presents several examples. (MS)

Describes "Word Building," a system for teaching phonics based on students' natural tendency to seek out pronounceable word parts. Describes how one spelling pattern might be taught in a typical lesson. (SR)

States that in the 1970s, sight words existed in a "topsy-turvy world" in which the variety of definitions was confusing. Suggests that readers recognize sight words as single, holistic units without segmenting and attending to letters one at a time, and without sounding out and blending letters sequentially. Explains the connection…

Forty-five phonic generalizations were applied to 5,431 words selected from six spelling programs. Also examined was the grade level at which each generalization was introduced; and the applicability of phonic generalizations to the spelling vocabulary was compared to the applicability of the generalizations to reading vocabularies as determined…

Describes nine categories of phonics/word study learning that have been drawn from research and cross-checked with the experiences of hundreds of teachers. Describes a workable structure for delivering systematic phonics instruction. Presents and describes a six-part word study structure. (SG)

Traditional methods of teaching spelling emphasized that pupils might write each new spelling word correctly and repeatedly from a weekly list in the spelling textbook. Some weaknesses in this approach are that rote learning is being stressed without emphasizing application of what has been learned, and that there is nothing which relates the…