This study investigated the effects of two levels of intensity (one lesson per day or two lessons per day) of a spelling intervention on students at risk for school failure. A quasi-experimental group design with random assignment was used. Elementary-level participants (n = 39) enrolled in a 4-week summer remedial program progressed through the…

Six kindergarten students at risk for reading difficulties were taught to tutor each other and provide accurate feedback with the use of a prerecorded sight word model. Students were taught the components of reciprocal peer tutoring and were asked to tutor each other on unknown, phonetically irregular sight words. An A-B-A-B reversal design…

The purpose of this research was to discover materials and methods used and examine influences on how and why sight-singing is taught in Florida middle-school choral programs. Members of the Florida Vocal Association completed an online or paper version of a questionnaire (N = 152). Data yielded several results that support previous research and…

Although the recent publication of the Rose Report appears to draw a line in the sand that privileges synthetic phonics over other methods in the UK, history indicates a pendulum swing of preference between whole-word and phonics since the advent of mass education. Suggesting that the current "victory" for exponents of synthetic phonics…

Nist and Joseph (2008) have confirmed earlier research showing that adding and interspersing a large number of time-consuming learning trials targeting known items (e.g., incremental rehearsal (IR) or interspersal) retards student learning rates. In addition, their current study has confirmed earlier research that adding and interspersing known…

This study examined the effects of teaching employees with moderate intellectual disabilities to use sight-word checklists as antecedent prompts to self-initiate job tasks in varied and novel sequences. The intervention package consisted of (a) sight word reading and comprehension instruction, and (b) self-management training using first a…

Sight-word instruction can improve functioning with various daily, recreational, and work-related tasks among children with moderate to severe disabilities. Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of drill methods to teach sight words if the model contains at least 50% known items, which would also increase the number of opportunities…

Anchoring new words in multiple contexts, teachers can make vocabulary meaningful and memorable. The forms of vocabulary instruction is presented so that the misidentification between words and their meanings can be avoided.

Teaching guitar is about much more than just the instrument. It is about developing positive habits, attitudes, skills, and thought patterns that are transferrable to other areas of life. In this article, the author shares some effective techniques in teaching classroom guitar. He presents his daily lesson structure and describes the four basic…

Offers a humorous perspective on being a proponent of the whole language approach to reading instruction in the face of those who favor phonics and specific skill instruction. (SRT)

States that in the 1970s, sight words existed in a "topsy-turvy world" in which the variety of definitions was confusing. Suggests that readers recognize sight words as single, holistic units without segmenting and attending to letters one at a time, and without sounding out and blending letters sequentially. Explains the connection…

Teaching students how to read is one of the most important tasks in elementary schools. The majority of schools use published basal programs to teach students to read. Several published reviews have indicated that past editions of basal readers did not align with appropriate instruction for beginning level readers. In this study I reviewed five of…

Reading is a skill--learning how the alphabet works by using it. Learning how to do it involves practice in building letters into words. As the decoding process is practiced, phonics moves into long-term storage. Building the skill of reading has the same 4 aspects as developing other skills: (1) the beginner uses the motion of his vocal organs to…

This research review looks at whether learning to read is different for children and adults and the emphases of top-down, bottom-up, and connectionist views of skilled reading. Concludes that phonological awareness is an important part of skilled reading. (SK)

The role of spelling recognition was examined in word reading skills and reading comprehension for dyslexic and nondyslexic children. Dyslexic and nondyslexic children were matched on their raw word reading proficiency. Relationships between spelling recognition and the following were examined for both groups of children: verbal ability, working…