The purpose of this study was to examine the cognitive correlates of RD-grade skill in arithmetic, algorithmic computation, and arithmetic word problems. Third graders (N = 312) were measured on language, nonverbal problem solving, concept formation, processing speed, long-term memory, working memory, phonological decoding, and sight word…

As part of a larger effort to develop a test battery for diagnosing difficulties with various word recognition subskills among mainstreamed students in grades 2 through 5, four experiments were conducted to compare the abilities of good and poor readers to read a frequency-graduated series of irregularly spelled words first in isolation and then…

The Ekwall Reading Inventory is a set of reading passages ranging in difficulty from preprimer through ninth-grade level and contains instruments for assessing students' knowledge of letters, phonics, basic sight words, vowel rules and syllable principles, and contractions. The reading passages are designed to measure students' oral and silent…

A study was conducted to determine the effects of word imagery on the retention of sight vocabulary. It was hypothesized that in an urban, low income area first grade class there would be no significant difference between the acquisition and retention rates of high imagery words and those of low imagery words. Using one group of high imagery words…

Ten second grade students in a slow reading group were studied to compare the effects of basal and language experience instruction on word recognition skills. For four weeks, all the students received 90 minutes of basal instruction each morning. During the afternoon sessions, the five language experience students dictated and read stories related…

A model for the measurement of reading skills was used as the basis for the development of the Decoding Skills Test. The model emphasizes that decoding skills are based on one of two processes: word recognition through phonic/linguistic decoding or through basal word recognition. Word lists appropriate for the elementary grades were used to…

A group test and individual interviews were used to investigate quantitative and qualitative aspects of students' vocabularies. Subjects for the group test were 144 high-, middle-, and low-ability fourth and sixth graders. Subjects for the interviews were eight high- and low-ability third and fifth graders. The group test consisted of two forms of…

Individual interviews and a series of ten tests were used to investigate the order in which children acquire reading concepts and demonstrate reading skills. Each of 44 first grade and 22 kindergarten students was tested and interviewed three times during the 1977-78 school year, and their responses were sorted and tabulated to determine whether…

Over 100 simple, easy-to-make activities for building specific reading skills in six areas, readiness, sight word knowledge, phonetic analysis, structural analysis, comprehension, and critical reading, are presented for the elementary teacher to use as tools in individualizing reading instruction. Each game activity has been tested and complete…

In order to determine if significant relationships exist among intersensory transfer ability, intersensory perceptual shifting ability, modal preference, and reading achievement, a study was conducted using 90 randomly selected Oconee County, Georgia, third graders whose mean IQ was 98 and whose mean reading comprehension was grade 3.…

Described is the language experience approach to reading used in grades K-8 of a small city school system. Largely concept-centered, the program allows the students to work individually or in small groups, insuring a wide variety of learning activities. Constructed without the use of commercially prepared materials, the program encourages students…

Reports a case study of the reading and spelling processes of a developmentally disabled child indicating that there was almost a complete lack of alphabetic functions, that reading appeared to be based on a "logographic lexicon," and that spelling was based on a letter sequence generator. (RS)

Describes a six-step technique that capitalizes on children's experiences and interests while providing structure and redundancy within a creative framework to maximize sight word acquisition. (FL)

Reports that teaching educable mentally handicapped children to compare unknown words to words they already have in their sight vocabularies seems to improve their reading abilities. (FL)

Describes two word-recognition activities and a cross-age tutoring program that have proven successful in developing poor readers' sight vocabulary. (MKM)