Reading programs for low-income populations often give disappointing results. Failures may be partly due to a neglect of practice in decoding letters. Visual stimuli are best learned symbol by symbol, with pattern analogies and much practice to unite smaller components and speed up identification. The prerequisite for comprehending volumes of text…

From the moment sighted children see their first dot, teachers find that they are fascinated by the braille code. If they are fortunate enough to have a classmate who reads braille, they have daily opportunities to observe braille used for a variety of purposes, from reading chapter books to solving problems with tactile graphics. Teachers of…

Presenting activities, facts, and illustrations, this book takes learning the alphabet to a new level. After an introduction and a brief cartoon look at the history of the alphabet, the book presents 26 four-page mini-chapters (1 for each letter) that include a brief visual history of the letter; trivia tidbits; project ideas; a list of people,…

Outlines a game which requires students to identify and use letters of the Latin alphabet. The game consists of three steps in that: (1) students must correctly identify letters; (2) after "winning" a letter, groups of students use them to build words; and (3) from the words, students add other words to construct complete sentences. (PJM)

Presents some examples of bilingual and Spanish materials that can be prepared in the classroom based on current practical theories on the teaching of literacy. Describes ways to incorporate the alphabet into bilingual activities. Considers the use of an illustrated songbook. (SG)

Proposes four subcategories of alphabet books for use in upper elementary classrooms: enumerative, juxtapositional, narrative, and artistic. Characteristics of each type are described that encourage different kinds of reader involvement and examples of classroom uses and strategies are suggested for specific titles. (LRW)

In a federally funded early literacy project, various instructional activities were embedded into an array of classroom contexts to provide supplemental literacy instruction and to contrast children's engagement and participation in different contexts and participant structures. The study was conducted with English- and Spanish-speaking children…

This guide will help teach phonemic awareness to Pre K-3 students. It presents phonemic awareness as a sophisticated branch of phonological awareness through interactive activities that allows the student to succeed in learning the sounds represented by the letters of the alphabet. The book is designed to provide easy-to-follow suggestions for:…

In this paper we describe an interactive activity that illustrates simple linear regression. Students collect data and analyze it using simple linear regression techniques taught in an introductory applied statistics course. The activity is extended to illustrate checks for regression assumptions and regression diagnostics taught in an…

Presented is a list of multisensory activities for teaching the alphabet in three letter increments over a 1 week period to children with educational, instructional and moderate intellectual handicaps. (CL)

An instructional guide to written Mauritanian Arabic contains 20 lessons, each presenting one or more letters of the Arabic alphabet and script. Graded exercises are included. The course is intended to be taught as the first stage in the Mauritanian Arabic training program for Peace Corps volunteers. The manual is entirely in Arabic. (MSE)

A discussion of spelling instruction for learners of English as a second language (ESL) looks at writing systems, the literature of ESL instruction, and the literature of English language arts in general. It begins with a typology of writing systems, examining how they represent both grammatical and phonological features. The nature of English…

This guide consists of 156 language games and class activities. It is a compilation of the activities used in a first-year German course at the University of Texas at Austin. Each activity is described by level of student experience and within one of three overall categories: materials used (objects, props, cards, pictures, stories), objectives…

Instructional materials are presented that are designed to give educators a comparative view of Haitian Creole, French, and English as well as to provide insight into the linguistic differences between Haitians and other national origin minority groups for better placement in English instruction. The text focuses on grammatical, lexical,…

A language guide to Temne is designed for Peace Corps volunteers serving in Sierra Leone. It contains introductory sections about the Temnes and Temne phonology and orthography, teacher notes on the use of the manual, and 12 lessons. Each lesson consists of a dialogue or narrative, notes on classroom presentation, vocabulary and useful phrases,…