Environmental sources of variance in the Italian vocabulary and reading skills of bilingual primary school children from immigrant families (or language minority bilingual children (LMBC)) in Italy were investigated, and the LMBC's skill levels were compared to those of their monolingual classmates. A total of 140 children from the first, third,…

This study investigates how lower elementary students used the technical terms in the context of ecology. We interviewed 44 students using several scenarios related to the ecosystem. We determined the general frequency of technical terms used from a preselected list commonly employed by scientists in their discourse about ecosystems. Then, we…

Purpose: This study examines the extent to which the Home Literacy Environment (HLE) as measured by reading habits and resources, library use, and subscriptions or materials, as well as parental reading beliefs predict both language skills (i.e., vocabulary) at kindergarten and students' trajectories of growth from kindergarten (K) to grade 3…

A fairly recent definition of reading disability (RD) is that in the form of a hybrid model. The model views RD as a latent construct that is manifested through various observable unexpected impairments in reading-related skills and through inadequate response to intervention. The current report evaluated this new conceptualization of RD from an…

A practicum was developed to expand written vocabulary for third graders through training in using a data base and brainstorming strategies. Individual thesauri were written and published to demonstrate the results of collecting vocabulary and applying it to specific topics. Daily process writing became an integral part of the curriculum. Class…