If children are to receive the writing instruction they need and deserve, it is essential that teachers develop a coherent and well-constructed vision for teaching writing. This article provides an example of how such a vision can be created. It is based on three assumptions. One, developing a vision for teaching writing should be guided by…

The motivational, cognitive, and performance benefits associated with setting goals are presented in light of goal-setting theory. These theoretical principles provide a framework that teachers can use to guide students in setting and pursuing personal reading goals that are proximal, specific, and compatible with students' reading abilities…

Early childhood educators are increasingly asked to support the alphabet knowledge development of children enrolled in their classrooms. Children in the same classroom, however, often show vastly different alphabet learning needs. Moreover, recent research suggests that some letters are more difficult to learn. These facts run counter to…

As a part of Response to Intervention, for three years, ten reading interventionists provided supplemental support to readers. They formed a learning community, took an inquiry-based approach to assessment and developed a theory of what students needed to know and be able to do as readers. They addressed and learned from several other challenges:…

The imaginative and interactive modes of communication available for children today, above and beyond print, indicate a profound shift to the nature of reading education as a whole. This article reviews the theoretical landscape involved in multimodal education, and then examines the practices that make multimodal education feasible in the…

Discusses the different ways theorists and researchers define "reading." (FL)

Explains schema theory and its usefulness in teaching reading comprehension. (DD)

Reviews and expands upon the author's well-known conditions of learning, particularly as they apply to the teaching of literacy. Takes a closer look at everyday natural learning, identifies the conditions of learning, and applies them to literacy teaching. (SR)

Compares the Darwinian approach to understanding reading (irrational) with the Cartesian approach (rational). Argues for the superiority of the Darwinian approach, and in the future will consider how research and practice might be conceptualized from a Cartesian approach to understanding and reading. (NKA)

Argues that researchers and practitioners largely view reading in terms of a "storage and conduit metaphor." Examines the metaphor and explains why it is necessary for the profession to move beyond it. (FL)

Discusses the conventions that define the range of legitimate routine in the reading profession. (FL)

Concludes that there are advantages to both the theorists' and synthesizers' perspectives of progress. (FL)

Notes the limitations of the traditional conceptualization of reading in terms of a conduit metaphor, consisting of three parts: (l) an input, (2) an output, and (3) a model that describes the relationship. Argues the merits of looking at reading in light of the tool metaphor, viewing readers and writers as users of information. (NH)

Examines the research and theory of invented spelling, then looks at ways teachers can use it in their classrooms. (FL)

Discusses whether the learning of separate subskills is a prerequisite for learning to read and whether the reading process actually is made up of many different skills. (FL)