This topical bibliography and commentary provides an overview of current thinking on the role of phonics in reading instruction. It discusses the value of phonics, phonics and phonemic awareness, the need for explicit instruction, principles in phonics instruction, and recommended instructional procedures. It concludes that findings from research…

This digest discusses the concept of "phonemic/phonological awareness"--the awareness that spoken language is made up of discrete sounds. The digest also discusses why this concept is so important to early childhood educators, its relation to the debate on the best type of reading instruction, and teaching methods that may help children…

This Topical Bibliography and Commentary examines recent studies on phonological awareness, finding the evidence conclusive that teaching phonological awareness to young children greatly facilitates the reading process. Researchers have studied problems children experience in reading for many years. The focus of research during the 1990s has been…

Direct Instruction (DI) is a pedagogical method that has come to be seen as the principal alternative to whole language reading instruction. Its development is attributed to Siegfried Engelmann, from the University of Illinois, in the mid-1960s. DI was originally developed as an instructional method in both mathematics and reading. This topical…

Philosophical and methodological differences exist regarding how best to instruct and encourage young children to read and write. In America, teaching reading and writing to young children has always been an area of controversy and debate, and it remains so today. The purpose of this digest is to review various studies and to identify essential…