The author, a former early grades teacher, recounts how she overcome erratic curriculum implementation to find her own way to effective reading instruction. What worked for her was an emphasis on explicit phonics in the context of providing engaging and relevant reading material for her students. "As a matter of educating the whole…

Reading workshop is a way for students to find what kinds of books they love, practice reading independently, and move up to higher levels of reading with teacher guidance. This type of workshop can develop a lifelong love of reading in children. But several conditions need to be met to make it successful. The authors discuss those conditions,…

Veteran teacher Rachel Harbison used vivid stories to involve kindergartners in sociodramatic play to motivate reading acquisition. Children learned through staged events that a mischievous Word Queen had planted "tricks" in the alphabet (i.e., the irregularities in English spelling) to prevent children from learning to read. The…

Background: The need to examine teachers' learning activities in reading literacy instruction arises from concerns about reading proficiency levels in the Namibian Junior Primary phase, where reading literacy is a fundamental skill crucial for academic success. Aim: The study examined the learning activities used for reading literacy instruction…

The best method for teaching children how to read has been debated for decades. The two major approaches have been the vocabulary controlled approach (phonics), and the literature based approach which uses children's literature to teach reading. There are proponents for both methodologies. The literature on the issue is as varied as the authors…

Important strides have been made in the science of learning to read. Yet, many students still struggle to attain reading proficiency. This calls for sustained efforts to bridge theoretical insights with applied considerations about ideal pedagogy. The current study was designed to contribute to this conversation, namely by looking at the efficacy…

Teaching children to read is a complicated process. Children begin school at varying levels of ability, yet are all required to meet a set standard of achievement. It is up to teachers to assess each student, identify individual learning needs, and provide support. A motivating, literacy-rich program that includes whole-class, small-group, and…

In many U.S. states, legislation seeks to define effective instruction for beginning readers, creating an urgent need to turn to scholars who are knowledgeable about ongoing reading research. This mixed-methods study considers the extent to which recognized literacy experts agreed with recommendations about instruction that were included on a…

In the action research project report, the teacher researchers found that many kindergarten and first-grade students did not have the reading readiness skills to be reading at their benchmark target. The purpose of the project was to improve the students overall reading ability. The dates of the project began on September 8 through December 20,…

Educators have continually sought to achieve a balance between a phonics-based, code-emphasis program and a more holistic, meaning-based approach to emergent literacy instruction. This article describes an integrated phonics and literature-based approach to developing children's emergent literacy skills. These skills included alphabet knowledge,…

Administrators in the U.S. education system need to be more than good managers, they need to understand high-quality reading instruction, so they can serve their teachers and help their school meet Reading First requirements. Although written with the administrator in mind, this collection also can be used by teachers, teacher educators, staff…