Spelling pronunciations are hypothesized to be helpful in building up relatively stable phonologically underpinned orthographic representations, particularly for learning words with irregular phoneme-grapheme correspondences. In a four-week computer-based training, the efficacy of spelling pronunciations and previewing the spelling patterns on…

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' use of literature-based collaborative Internet projects (CIP) in their elementary classrooms. These practices require two or more classrooms to read and analyze texts on specified topics and then share responses over the Internet. The participants, all female, represented 15 different U.S. states…

Despite the rich literature on disciplinary knowledge construction and multilingual scholars' academic literacy practices, little is known about how novice scholars are engaged in knowledge construction in negotiation with various target discourse communities. In this case study, with a focused analysis of a Chinese computer science doctoral…

Many of the most talented authors and artists of the past and present have shared their thoughts and their gifts with young children through picture books. Many picture books allow young children to explore important ideas and to stretch their minds far beyond rote memorization. Young children absorb knowledge at a very rapid pace. In an age of…

This issue highlights seven distinct studies. The first study examines the perceptions of early childhood educators and elementary educators concerning their beliefs about young children and how those beliefs translate to practice. The second explores joint book reading among parents and very young children. The third investigates the importance…

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has ushered in an era of increased accountability and assumed universal proficiency at a time when there is significant variability in children's abilities as they enter kindergarten. Despite NCLB's emphasis on the use of evidence-based practices to improve students' achievement, it explicitly recommends grade…

This curriculum guide is intended for teachers to use with students in grades 3, 4, and 5 and features lesson plans that focus on the Olympic Games. The guide is part of a larger program sponsored by the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles that is targeted at southern California students, ages 8-10, who were born just before or after the…

This book is designed to provide a conceptual and practical guide for teaching children with autism in a way that will maximize their developmental potential. The 12 chapters are: (1) "Emerging Interventions for Children with Autism: Longitudinal and Lifestyle Implications" (Robert L. Koegel and others); (2) "Communication and Language…

This publication investigates what happened when a Chicago public school first-grade teacher radically changed her teaching practice and embraced a holistic literary approach. The practice of shifting patterns of control in the classroom and the construction of knowledge in a setting where most children are bilingual is explored. The nine chapters…

This paper describes the use of electronic dialogue journals in a college course designed to teach 14 students a student-centered, whole-language reading methodology for use with children with hearing impairments. Students used electronic mail to discuss issues with the course instructor at the same time they were writing interactive journals with…

Six communication instructors redesigned the curriculum of two courses to make integration part of teacher training both in course content and in the way trainees were taught and prepared. Having conducted a literature search, the six teachers developed a language arts interdisciplinary team to plan, pilot, and implement a new integrated approach.…

This monograph contains two papers that examine the importance of learning styles and discuss whether teaching styles should be matched to learning styles. The first paper, "The Matching of Learning Styles to Teaching during Teacher Education (Theory into Practice): A Preliminary Study," by A. FitzGibbon and others, discusses a research…

Taiwanese college students have significant difficulty in reading technical texts in English. Based on information gathered from students in freshman English classes in Taiwan, and on previous research, three significant areas of student confusion are: (1) frequent use of prepositions, particularly when an English preposition with multiple…

The Project ALERT (Adult Literacy Enhanced & Redefined through Training) Workplace Literacy Project consisted of a partnership between Wayne State University, the Detroit Public schools, and several city organizations, unions, and manufacturers in the automobile industry, which formed to meet employees' job-specific basic skills application needs…

This conference proceedings document contains 18 papers focusing on ideas and strategies for effective literacy instruction. Following opening remarks by Rita M. Bean, are four keynote addresses: "Toward Uncommon Sense Literacy Learning; Integrating Reading and Writing" (John Mayher); "Literacy Learning in At-Risk First…