Response practice variables for learning spelling and sight vocabulary were studied in 4 experiments involving a total of 18 rehabilitation clients and adolescents with developmental disabilities or behavior disorders. The experiments specifically examined the "cover write" method, written versus oral practice, less versus more response practice,…

Describes four global areas (children's literature, thematic approach, language experience, and interactive computer software programs) in which meaningful context is used to increase poor readers' sight and expanding reading vocabularies. Describes teaching procedures for each of the areas that help poor readers choose the types of context that…

The complete texts of 250 trade books for children in the primary grades were analyzed by computer in order to identify recurring two- and three-word strings. Of the 202,763-word sample that resulted, 89 two-word strings occurred 100 times or more, and only two three-word strings occurred more than 100 times. These frequencies represent,…

A total of 158 children from seven kindergarten classes participated in a study that compared the effectiveness of a context emphasis approach for teaching sight words with an approach that emphasized the distinctive features of the words presented alone. Within classes, the students were assigned in equal numbers to the treatment conditions:…

A case study was conducted in which two subjects (a ten-year-old boy and an eleven-year-old girl) classified as neurologically impaired received instruction in identifying familiar syllables within words. The object of this approach was to direct the subjects' attention to familiar letter clusters, thus facilitating word identification. Individual…

A PROGRAM IN BEGINNING READING AND LISTENING SKILLS, INCLUDING COMPREHENSION OF WRITTEN AND SPOKEN LANGUAGE, IS DESCRIBED. THE PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO ACCOMPLISH CLEARLY DEFINED INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS AND IS CONSTANTLY EVALUATED AND REVISED IN LIGHT OF ACTUAL CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE. INDIVIDUALS FROM REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES, UNIVERSITIES, AND…

Four possible alternative approaches for developing word recognition skills (including sample lesson plans for both primary and intermediate grades) were presented. The first emphasized the importance of the relative order of difficulty of word analysis skills involving phonic abilities and auditory and visual discrimination in both primary and…

The extent to which intralist similarity affects kindergarten pupils' rate of acquisition, word recognition skills, and tendency to generalize responses to similar words was investigated. The subjects were 54 children from a semirural elementary school who had had no formal training in letter recognition. Three acquisition lists were used to…

The building of a repertoire of written words recognized on sight is an important prerequisite for complex reading skills. Coordination of certain sense modalities, when present in the learning of a new written word, increases the probability that this word will be retained over a period of time. This coordination involves specific intersensory…

Shows that subjects receiving the most "overlearning" (repetitive instruction) remembered the most words, suggesting a linear relationship between overlearning and retention. (RL)

Concludes that the level of categorization from which a word is drawn affects its learnability as a sight word. (FL)

Discusses techniques for testing reading of "sight" passages. (HW)

Uses a dialogue format to examine the nature of the reading process, including the aspects of decoding, encoding, interpretation, and application. Includes British references. (VJ)

Fourteen students (ages 7-9) with reading difficulties were taught to create word-picture links for those words they find particularly difficult to recognize quickly. Students consistently learned more words when using the word association method. (DB)