Reading instruction has been the subject of significant controversy for more than five decades, and Kappan has allowed advocates of many different types of reading instruction to make their cases in the magazine's pages. Teresa Preston chronicles the history of the reading wars as they played out in Kappan. Researchers and scholars have debated…

Background: In the context of the ongoing crisis in early reading literacy in South Africa, this article gives insight into teacher practices which reduce learners' opportunities to read continuous text for meaning. Aim: This ethnographic study investigated the microcosm of teacher practices in well-resourced environments. Setting: A purposive…

The study presents a reading intervention for children having a variety of reading deficits. For this study it was found that most of the children had not responded positively to phonics instruction. Based on brain imaging studies, it has been shown that there are positive changes in the left brains of readers with dyslexia who receive phonemic…

A study investigated whether instruction in spelling would affect acquisition of the alphabetic strategy by beginning readers. Subjects, 28 beginning first- and second-graders of average or above-average intellectual ability in whole language classrooms, participated in small group training for two 20 minute periods a week for 6.5 months.…

Ponders the dilemmas of teaching and learning how to learn from reading (using the "fortunately/unfortunately" pattern from Remy Charlip's book "Fortunately.") (SR)

Presents a discussion of the ideas that are central to the concept of literature-based reading instruction. Reviews the theory, gives insights from reading research, stresses the importance of literature in the reading program, and offers strategies for literature-based reading instruction. (PRA)

Holistic approaches to remedial reading can be effective in promoting the reading growth of poor readers. Learning to read is most effective when it occurs in a context of functional and meaningful literacy activity. In order to create such a context students need to be engaged with real texts in a search for meaning. Repeated readings, taped…

Recent research confirms that children learn to read best by using a balanced literacy program incorporating a combination of explicit phonics, whole language, and good literature. Long before children are able to engage in reading themselves, they must feel that reading is something they want to do. Comfortable and early familiarity with letters…

Discusses three basic principles of whole learning that provide the framework for course instruction: (1) literacy processes are used on a daily basis; (2) students are given much opportunity to use and practice what is learned; and (3) learning is a social process. Notes that preservice teachers are resistant to implement content area reading…

Describes the Modified Guided Silent Reading Procedure (MGSR), which provides an instructional framework for teaching complex literacy and learning strategies to fluent readers of about nine years of age and above. Notes that the MGSR is student centered and consistent with beliefs about language and learning that underpin programs aligned to a…

Presents the Holistic Educational Literacy Process strategy for adult literacy education consisting of the following 10 steps: presenting an advance organizer; reading silently; reading aloud; listening to the passage recorded; listening and taking notes; highlighting important points; networking structures; summarizing the passage; revising the…

Examines (from the perspective of developmental dialectics) the on-going debate between traditional instruction and whole-language advocates in reading. Provides an overview of the differences between the two camps. Outlines the reasons why whole-language approaches have increasingly been incorporated into classrooms. Speculates on how the debate…

Relates a teacher's observations of first graders in a whole language classroom enabling each other to read. Suggests reading techniques which foster this collaborative learning. (PRA)

Argues that deep coding skills must and can be introduced, taught, practiced, and reinforced within contexts meaningful to students. Shows how teachers can provide these meaningful educational contexts within which decoding strategies make sense to emerging readers. (SR)

The article describes how to teach skills strategically in whole-language classrooms. It discusses differences between skills and strategies and notes how to move from skill to strategy. A section on teaching phonics examines phonics charts and personal phonics booklets; suggests an order for teaching phonics. (SM)