Compares selected language features of urban, first grade children in five different reading programs: Lippincott, Language Experience, Houghton-Mifflin, Open Court, and Ginn 720. Finds significant differences among the programs on number of predictions and average length of T-unit, but no program emerged as significantly superior in two or more…

Describes selected plans of teaching reading--individualized reading, basal reader, initial teaching alphabet, language experience and color coding--and suggests each plan's inherent philosophy. (MM)

This paper examines reading research and fosters awareness of limitations in such studies. It begins by discussing the historical aspects of the basal reading program and the language experience and individualized reading approaches. It continues by reporting early studies conducted in these areas, and investigating problems with such studies. The…

A study of 46 first-grade children to determine how basal instructed and language experience instructed children would differ in their use of written language cues revealed no significant differences between the two groups in their use of these cues. (TJ)

Describes an experience based reading program developed in Melbourne, Australia, for low-income and immigrant children and a series of books to be published which are based on this program. (MKM)

Reading instruction is on the verge of a shift to a new paradigm that will be based on a new understanding of cognitive processes and will include five important tenets: (1) the best way to promote the emergence of reading behavior is to use interesting story books; (2) the primary cause of reading problems is too much instruction, too much…

Discusses the major components, weaknesses, and strengths of three types of reading programs: the basal reading approach, the language experience approach, and the individualized reading approach. (FL)

To examine the effects of the language experience approach (LEA) on beginning reading achievement, a study analyzed five projects conducted as part of the United States Office of Education first grade studies and 32 additional studies comparing basal reading approaches to LEA. Using two methods of quantitative synthesis (vote-counting and…

Examines different approaches to reading acquisition used in four first grades of a suburban elementary school. Supports the use of a language experience approach as a viable alternative to the basal reader approach for teaching reading and writing. (JK)

A study compared the effectiveness of intensive phonics instruction (a combination of the Distar and Lippincott methods) with a language experience approach (Success in Reading program) in the first and second grades. Subjects, 48 first and second grade students in the Hillsboro School District in Oregon, were divided into two groups (matched…

Seventy-eight kindergarten children were randomly placed in four experimental classrooms. Two of the classes were taught with the basal reader approach to reading readiness, and two were taught with the conceptual-language program approach. An extensive pretest battery was given to these children in October 1967. Instruction in the two approaches…

Describes a program in a first grade classroom in a rural school district which integrates holistic and direct instructional ideas by using the basal reader as one part of an otherwise holistic literacy program. Presents the major benefits of and some concerns about the program. (RS)

This paper argues that literature-centered reading programs, based on the perspective that reading is the process of bringing meaning to print, are in the best interest of the language minority students in the nation's elementary schools. After a review of basal reading systems and language-centered reading programs, the paper describes the…