Teaching students how to read is one of the most important tasks in elementary schools. The majority of schools use published basal programs to teach students to read. Several published reviews have indicated that past editions of basal readers did not align with appropriate instruction for beginning level readers. In this study I reviewed five of…

Presents i.t.a. in a way that enables a teacher to learn the i.t.a. code individually and describes i.t.a. on the basis of American pronunciation. (TO)

Reviews the research on the initial teaching alphabet (i/t/a), the sources of conflict and misunderstanding involving its use, and its future in reading instruction. (FL)

Reports on a study that examined the preferences of kindergarten children for upper or lower case letters. Concludes that preference for letters may result from the development of an aesthetic sense. (FL)

Supports the view that letter-name knowledge aids the child in learning to read. (RL)

First graders taught with the initial teaching alphabet showed superior word recognition when compared with matched subjects taught in the traditional English alphabet instructional format. Retesting in third grade showed no significant differences between the groups, but indicated that auditory memory affected reading performance in both…

Argues there is ample evidence of the prime significance and hierarchical character of the print medium, and of an absolute need for individual letter recognition from the outset of instruction. Discusses the role of the alphabet and its relationship to its precursor speech sounds for the developing learner. (RS)