Reading comprehension--the ability to understand the meaning of text--is a foundational ability that enables children to learn in school and throughout life. Children who struggle with reading comprehension in the third or fourth grade are at high risk for dropping out of school, with detrimental effects on their future employment, income, and…

The development of early literacy skills is critical to children's later success in reading and reading-related activities; therefore, understanding how teachers can support early literacy development is equally important. In this article, the authors provide information on how early childhood teachers can use specific strategies and techniques as…

BUILDING EFFECTIVE COMPREHENSION SKILLS IS DISCUSSED. FACTORS RELATED TO COMPREHENSION ARE PHYSICAL HEALTH, MENTAL DEVELOPMENT, EXPERIMENTIAL BACKGROUND, WORD RECOGNITION, AND THE PURPOSES OF THE READER. COMPREHENSION SKILLS CAN BE GROUPED INTO THESE AREAS -- READING FOR DETAILS, READING FOR MAIN IDEAS, READING TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN FACT AND…

Kindergarten children who were taught in a structured, sequential program achieved significantly more than kindergarten children taught the regular curriculum. (WY)

This study examined the feasibility of teaching phonemic manipulation skills (auditory rhyming, blending, or segmenting) to preschool children with disabilities. Forty-seven children, 4-6 years old, enrolled in a special education preschool, were randomly assigned to receive training in one of three categories of phonemic manipulation tasks…

Intended for teachers of preschool and kindergarten children, this manual is designed to share effective practices and products that have been either developed or refined by pre-elementary Right to Read programs. The first section of the manual discusses a variety of activities that focus on cognitive, language, personal/social, and motor…

ONE OF THE PROBLEMS OF TEACHING READING TO CHILDREN WITH LOW MENTAL AGES, FOR EXAMPLE, OF FOUR TO FIVE, IS THAT MOST READING PROGRAMS ARE GEARED TO THE CHILDREN WITH A MENTAL AGE OF ABOUT SIX AND ONE-HALF. A CHILD WITH THIS HIGHER MENTAL DEVELOPMENT WILL OFTEN HAVE MANY OF THE BASIC READING SKILLS ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED, OR HE CAN LEARN THEM QUICKLY…

Fourteen strategies a hard-of-hearing mother uses while reading a book with her hard-of-hearing preschool son are observed. These strategies are grouped in four large categories: (1) confirmation of child's understanding; (2) focusing attention on the book and its content; (3) specific language input; (4) concept development. (Author/LMO)

Focused on embracing individual children in language/reading experiences through instructional guidance combined with acceptance and understanding, this teaching guide for beginning reading provides teaching-learning activities which are organized for easy reference. The first section presents a self-corrective pretest for teachers, with an…