In a test-driven educational environment, teachers see a great need for more engaging resources that produce the literacy results needed for students to thrive academically. In 2015, The National Assessment of Educational Progress reported that only 36% of fourth graders scored at or above the Proficient level of reading. This statistic was…

Successful reading instruction entails not only acquiring new words but also remembering them after training has finished and accessing their word-specific representations when they are encountered in new text. We report two studies demonstrating that acquisition, retention, and transfer of unfamiliar words were affected differentially by isolated…

IN A THREE-STAGE STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF THE PHONIC AND LOOK-SAY METHODS OF READING ON THE TRANSFER OF READING SKILLS, 60 KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN WERE DIVIDED INTO A LETTER GROUP, A WORD GROUP, AND A CONTROL GROUP. MATERIALS USED WERE SIX GRAPHEMES DESIGNED DIFFERENTLY FROM ENGLISH LETTERS AND ASSIGNED TO SIX SINGLE ENGLISH PHONEMES. DURING STAGE…

AN EXPERIMENT WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECT OF 2-WORD ASSOCIATIONS IN LEARNING TO READ THE SECOND WORD OF A 2-WORD CHAIN. ABOUT 45 FIRST AND SECOND GRADE STUDENTS WERE CHOSEN AS SUBJECTS AFTER PRETESTING TO INSURE THEY WERE ABLE TO READ THE FIRST (STIMULUS) WORD BUT NOT THE SECOND (RESPONSE) WORD OF EACH WORD PAIR USED IN THE STUDY. EIGHT…

In our concern to improve the quality of reading, we have neglected vocabulary development; in our zeal to teach children to pronounce words, we have neglected teaching them word meanings. Vocabulary can be developed by using all the communication processes: reading, writing, speaking, listening, visualizing, and observing; and vocabulary deserves…

AN EXPERIMENT WAS DESIGNED TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT, WITH MATERIAL OF HIGH MEANINGFULNESS, THE SEMANTIC DIMENSION OF SYNONYMITY (BATTLE-FIGHT) WILL HAVE GREATER IMPACT ON THE LEARNING PROCESS THAN THE DIMENSION OF FORMAL SIMILARITY (BATTLE-BOTTLE). THE LEARNING MATERIALS CONSISTED OF FOUR LISTS OF 12 PAIRS OF TWO-SYLLABLE WORDS. THEY WERE…

A study explored a potential aptitude-by-treatment interaction associated with the keyword method of vocabulary acquisition. This method is a two-stage mnemonic process whereby an unfamiliar term is first transformed into a familiar concrete stimulus and then a thematic relationship is created between the transformed stimulus and the information…

A rationale for teaching beginning reading from a learning theory perspective that is compatible with Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development is presented in this paper. The model offered is based on a linguistic analysis and on current research. The logical thinking skills characteristic of each stage of development proposed by Piagetian…

Some tips can assist teachers in guiding each pupil to achieve more optimally, with respect to the ability to read well and reading comprehension. Among these 10 specific tips are: (1) teach individualized phonics in context; (2) assist the student to read in proper thought units by covering up words in sentences for clarification; (3) assist…

This article contains eight principles for teaching the adult beginning reader. Each principle is based on classical, established, or new research and learning theory related to the adult reader. With each principle, a brief rationale for its development is presented and practical instructional strategies are indicated. (Author/CH)

Summarizes and updates original study done on reading and writing development of a preschool child. (SRT)

THE RELATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF INDUCTIVE AND DEDUCTIVE APPROACHES TO THE INSTRUCTION OF WORD ANALYSIS TASKS WAS STUDIED. A NUMBER OF PHONIC AND STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS GENERALIZATIONS, APPLIED TO THE PRONUNCIATION OF WORDS ABOVE THE PRIMARY LEVEL IN DIFFICULTY, WERE PRESENTED TO EIGHTH- AND NINTH-GRADERS OF AVERAGE MENTAL ABILITY BUT WHO WERE WEAK IN…

Outlines diverse strategies (contextual clues, palindromes, figurative language/idioms, etc.) for increasing vocabulary skills of gifted readers in the lower primary grades, using children's literature to supplement good tradebooks. (NKA)