An experiment was developed under the assumption that learning about word families could help ease the introduction of short vowels to first grade students. The hypothesis was that teaching the word families would increase students' reading vocabulary, in contrast to the learning acquired by students taught only phonetic analysis. The control…

A study examined high and low achieving readers' performance with six phonic generalizations, using real and nonsense words. Eighteen first and second grade students were divided into higher level and lower level readers on the basis of their scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills. Three real words and four nonsense words for each of the six…

The study involving 105 neurologically impaired or learning disabled elementary school children examined the relative effectiveness of various word attack strategies for a reading disabled population. Children were taught with lessons over a 2 day period which provided direct instruction on a medial vowel sound, practice on monosyllabic words…

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…

Thirty-two students from each of grades three and four were administered the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests, two word lists, and a number of tests selected from the Wisconsin Design for Reading Skill Development. Individual Performance Profiles were used to determine which Design tests to administer, the number of attempts required to attain skill…

Systematically incorporated into classroom instruction in word analysis, word sorts provide a sensible alternative to phonics or whole-word approaches and are congruent with the meaning-based direction of today's basal reading programs. A word sort is an activity in which the learner arranges words printed on cards into groups. This technique can…

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…

In an attempt to describe the place of phonics in a word-attack program, five areas of word attack are discussed: sight recognition, the use of context clues, morphology (structural analysis), phonics, and dictionary use. Facility in the use of all of these, singly and in combination, is stated as being necessary for a person to be an independent…

Four different treatments were used over a period of five months in this experiment concerning the teaching of reading skills to 35 black kindergarten children. The treatments were: (1) spelling patterns/phonic approach using black standard English, (2) a sight approach using black standard English, (3) a sight approach utilizing black nonstandard…

Students who received phonics and word recognition instruction directly from a teacher developed a more positive attitude toward reading than did students who received instruction through tape-recorded lessons. (MKM)

Analyzes research reports that describe specific corrective feedback techniques. Notes effects for comprehension and for accuracy of word recognition among remedial and average readers and discusses instructional implications of the findings. (FL)

Examines the role of various word features (versatile letter combinations) and basal text factors (word repetitions) in the developing word recognition skills of 93 first-grade students. Indicates that the text to which children are exposed early in first grade may differentially shape their word identification strategies. (HOD)

The students of the targeted sixth grade class exhibited low standardized test scores in reading. Despite many efforts, this problem reached a crisis point in the fall of 2001, when the school as a whole placed at the bottom of the district on the state standards test, which was taken by this group of students in the spring of their fifth-grade…

Advocates of high standards and expectations usually believe that gaps in reading achievement can be eliminated with good teaching, but slow readers need a specially designed reading curriculum. The teacher first needs to use an informal reading inventory to determine the student's reading level. Functioning generally on a higher level than…

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)