Competing theories are quite common in education. In spelling research, two general perspectives have emerged over the years: stage theory and repertoire/alternative theories. Exploring these perspectives is important because teachers need to understand how spelling knowledge is critical for learning to read words and to write them. Stage theory…

In this article, one literacy coach turned university professor describes her journey through Reading Recovery training and the lessons she learned along the way. She reflects on her teaching before and after studying Clay's work, and she describes the changes that she went through as a teacher as she applied the principles to her own teaching and…

The IMSCI model for teaching writing scaffolds the instruction so that students understand the features of a genre, see the teacher model writing a text in the target genre, participate in the creation of a text in the genre (through shared or collaborative writing), and independently write a text in the genre. This model is based on social…

Constrained skills theory is a reconceptualization of reading development that suggests a continuum of skills, with some, such as letter knowledge and decoding abilities, more tightly constrained than others, such as phonological awareness and oral reading fluency. The most constrained skills consist of a limited number of items and thus can be…

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)

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

Discusses the challenges of translating definitions of reading found in research into classroom practice. (FL)

Reports that reading researchers are now debating whether reading is a bottom-up or top-down process. (FL)

Reports that story grammar seems to be more useful for teachers than for students. (FL)

Argues that Piaget's cognitive stage theory complements psycholinguistic theories of fluent reading by clarifying how readers acquire and then use prior knowledge. Suggests that, in this light, teachers may want to rearrange the order and manner in which they present units from basal readers. (FL)

Suggests that the more teachers can simulate learning conditions in their classrooms, the more effective their students' learning. Explores the degree to which the learning theory can be applied to quite different examples of real-world, complex learning. (SG)

Suggests that teaching schema that gives learners not details but a process for interpreting stories will produce results with carryover. (FL)

Describes a writing program for sixth grade remedial students that was a reading program as well. Includes "how to" guidelines for successful process-conference instruction. (FL)