The primary purpose of this study was to provide empirical evidence for the assumption that if the essential subskills of word attack are mastered, then functional word attack ability will result. To obtain such evidence, the study was designed to test the functional word attack ability of 140 elementary school students who had been taught the…

Materials and procedures for teaching both children and adults to read by a phonic method are described and specimen programs are outlined. Two books, Formula Phonics and Formula Phonics Reading Book, and a series of 12 30-minute tapes comprise the described materials. From these the learners go directly to anthologies or any other materials which…

This comprehensive informal reading inventory was based on the Harper and Row Basic Reading Program. It includes four major sections: a reading attitude inventory, a phonics inventory, a word recognition checklist, and an oral and silent reading inventory. The reading attitude measure is a list of 25 questions to be read silently and answered with…

The research discussed here had two primary purposes: (1) to replicate a study done by George Weber in which eight factors were hypothesized to make successful schools successful: strong leadership, high expectations, good atmosphere, strong emphasis on reading, additional reading personnel, individualization, use of phonics, and careful…

Thirty-two Afro-American and 50 Mexican-American seventh graders were randomly selected from a school located in a central Texas low socioeconomic environment. The subjects were administered the New Developmental Reading Tests, The Silent Reading Diagnostic Tests, and The California Short-Form Test of Mental Maturity. When the two groups were…

A program is described that successfully teaches decoding to poor readers of average or above intelligence in grades 1 through 8. The teacher-directed, supplemental program guides students to become aware of language patterns and consistencies and to apply a decoding process of using known language patterns to figure out unknown words. (Author/JDD)

Reports the results of a study of 7- to 11-year-old boys (n=100) designed to explore the use of visual and auditory information in learning to spell. Results showed that only with 10- and 11-year-olds did visual information produce better results than auditory presentation alone. (JDH)

During the 2000-2001 school year, an 18-month evaluation of Ohio's Phonics Demonstration Program (PDP) was conducted by the same evaluation team that had conducted a similar evaluation in 1997. In addition to evaluating phonics instruction in PDP schools, the evaluation also addressed the preparation of teachers for reading/phonics instruction in…

This inservice professional development module, part of the Alabama Reading Initiative, presents research summaries, notes for presenters, and activities. The Phonemic Awareness and Phonics module clarifies that skilled readers are accurate and automatic decoders (i.e., they have the alphabetic principle). Phonics instruction must empower all…

This executive summary discusses our current understanding of the difficulties that children with reading/learning disabilities encounter as they start down the road to reading and summarizes research on early identification and intervention. The focus is on children in kindergarten through second grade. Findings from the analysis indicate: (1)…

Teaching the benefit of systematic instruction in decoding strategies, this self-instruction manual for teachers in word recognition skills stresses reading instruction in an environment that has comprehension as its goal. Quality reading materials constitute the core of this early reading program. New in the sixth edition are additional review…

This book is a hands-on activity resource for kindergarten and first grade that makes phonics instruction easy and fun for teachers and children in the classroom. The book offers methods for practice, reinforcement, and assessment of phonetic skills using a poem as a foundation for teaching short vowels. The poem is duplicated so children can work…

Intended for teachers of kindergarten and first grade, this book offers hands-on activities that make phonics instruction easy and fun for teachers and children in the classroom. The book provides methods for practice, reinforcement, and assessment of phonics skills. A poem is used to introduce the phonics element of this book, rhyming words. The…

This report highlights key studies, salient findings, and the significance of research supported by the National Reading Research Center (NRRC), which was charged to conduct research on reading instruction appropriate for prekindergarten through 12th-grade learning environments. The first chapter of the report elaborates on a foundation principle…

This paper provides an overview of the Four Blocks framework, a teaching framework developed by professional educators, that aims to teach all children to read by providing daily exposure to a variety of instructional approaches. Four Blocks is intended for use in regular, heterogeneously constructed K-3 classrooms. It supports individual learning…