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…

Concludes that those taught feature analysis did not excel in naming letters but did differ significantly in the kinds of errors made. (RB)

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)

Reports that kindergarten children were aided in learning to use the alphabet when additional cues to distinguish the letters were provided in the immediate letter background. (FL)

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)

The purpose of this article is to present an integrated alphabetic approach that "simultaneously" teaches letter sounds and formations. We share with you the research that supports this integrated approach and present the procedures to implement this approach. Further, we document the effect of using this new integrated alphabet approach on the…

Indicates that i.t.a. can be an effective tool in teaching bilingual Mexican-American children to read. (RB)

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

Concludes that, of several reading readiness factors, knowledge of alphabet letter names is the best predictor of phonics skills other than vowel recognition and of reading abilities involving words in insolation, and that number knowledge is the best predictor of reading abilities involving words and syntax. (FL)

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…

Reports that praise and extrinsic reinforcers, such as candy, increased the rate of letter recognition in preschool children and that the increase was partially maintained when the reinforcement was removed. (FL)

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)