This practical, teacher-friendly book provides indispensable guidance for implementing research-based reading instruction that is responsive to students' diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Structured around the "big five" core topics of an effective reading program--phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension--the…

Suggesting that the process of reading, however complex, is knowable, and that the scientific study of reading is both necessary and possible, this book brings together what has been learned through the scientific study of reading by carefully observing readers in the act of reading. The book looks at reading in the real world, at how readers and…

Provides a brief review of research concerning the relationship between reading and writing, and of instructional strategies suggested by that research. (AEA)

There is an explosion of new research describing writing stages and how young children learn about reading by learning to write first. Teachers can develop environments in which students can freely explore writing in no-fail situations. By being guided by childrens' spontaneous learning efforts many inapropriate teaching techniques can be avoided.…

Suggests a possible unified theory of reading, interpretation, and composition based on recent research in composition combined with the theoretical contributions of reader response critics in literature. Describes a pedagogical program based on this theoretical model that uses students' responses to texts as the center of the course. (JL)

Describes how narrative texts can be represented as networks of causally related statements or events and presents empirical evidence that the networks predict performance on reading comprehension. Compares network theory to other theories of discourse comprehension. Suggests implications of causal representations for reading and composition…

This book presents an overview of reading/writing research, discussing specific reading/writing processes, instructional issues, teacher research, and directions for future research. Chapter titles are: (1) Alternative Research Perspectives (Sarah J. McCarthey and Taffy E. Raphael); (2) Reading, Writing, and Genre Development (Judith A. Langer);…

Reflecting current themes that researchers, by their selective attention, have indicated are important in the field of reading/language processing and instruction, this yearbook presents a collection of 51 selected research articles from the National Reading Conference for 1983. Included are the following articles, listed with their authors: (1)…

Shows 16 kindergarten children's literacy development as indicated by the use of 6 specific story elements (classic story version, connected events, fantasy experiences, goal-directed experiences, personal experiences, and social interactions) in the children's original stories. Finds support for the belief that learning to read and learning to…

Proposes a view of literacy learning in which various forms of reading and writing are conceptualized as unique ways of thinking about and exploring a topic of study (analogous to a conceptual "landscape") en route to acquiring knowledge (best "traversed" from a variety of perspectives). (MS)

Argues that composing and comprehending are process-oriented thinking skills that are basically interrelated, and suggests ways that these skills can be taught. (JL)

Reports a study, using sixth graders' introspective self-reports, to determine the context in which students use knowledge about narrative text structure, how they use this knowledge, and why they do not always employ this knowledge. (RAE)

Examines the differences between oral and written languages, including differences in register, style, and syntax. Asserts that reading aloud and giving instructions are two ways to focus on the connection between oral and written language and the processes of reading and writing. (MM)

This paper describes a study that evaluated a program in which students' reading and writing skills improved with the enhancement of various interventions related to reading and writing. The targeted population consisted of elementary students enrolled in first and third grades in northern Illinois. The lack of reading and writing success was…

Conference presentations of research on reading comprehension, reading instruction, computer applications in reading instruction, and reading theory are compiled in this yearbook. Titles and authors of some of the articles are as follows: "A Rationale for Teaching Children with Limited English Proficiency" (M. Zintz); "Preliminary Development of a…