The five "phones" of reading--phonics, phonetic spelling, phoneme awareness, phonological awareness, and phonology--all share the same "phon" root, so they are easy to confuse, but they are definitely different, and each very important to reading education. Phonics is an instructional approach that emphasizes the letter-sound…

This textbook is a second reader with longer words from common vocabulary that pupils should learn to recognize in print as they do in speech. Pupils should learn to use them in conversation more readily because they are to be found in their reader, which trains them in the use of good language. The phonic method is used. A key to the…

Using made-up words to teach sound-symbol relationships eliminates student guessing at familiar words. (Author/SP)

Compares British and Finnish reading instruction in the primary grades. (RB)

The author describes a method of teaching initial sounds in words. The teacher writes a story using vocabulary that have the same initial sounds. The stories keep the students' attention and help in the teaching of phonics. (MS)

Reading can be taught by matching the sound system of a language with its written system. (CK)

The normal readers were able to read significantly more regular real words and nonsense words than were the learning disabled children. It was concluded that reading disabled children experience specific difficulty in learning to use the phonetic code to unlock unknown words. (Author/CL)

Tests the hypothesis that the ability to decode words is facilitated if the beginning reader is taught only one sound per letter, the one sound associated with the letter being treated as an overgeneralization. Subjects were five pairs of four-year-old monozygotic twins. (Author/RH)

Concludes that intensive phonics teaching produces greater beginning reading achievement than do reading programs that deemphasize phonics teaching. (FL)

An analysis of children's response patterns to Test 7B of the Standard Reading Tests, designed to test knowledge of consonantal blends at beginnings of words, suggests that the response patterns reflect spoken or written vocabulary rather than knowledge of phonic elements. (GT)

Argues that problems identified with using phonics do not attack the skill, per se, which phonics provides--being able to independently unlock words. (HOD)

Notes that federal officials stress that educators should not overlook key elements in reading instruction (phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension), even with the No Child Left Behind Act's emphasis on phonics. Discusses how families play a critical role in reading instruction. (SG)