Directed to teachers, paraprofessionals, parents, and others interested in giving a young child an early start on the 3 Rs, this book provides easy-to-follow instructions for promoting emergent literacy and for teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic from preschool into the primary grades. The progression of content extends from early…

This report discusses the findings of a study that evaluated the effectiveness of a set of considerate interventions in closing the language arts achievement gap in general, and evaluated the effects of these interventions in complex classroom settings that serve large numbers of at-risk students who have disabilities and live in poverty. The…

Less is known about how children read connected text in silent reading, and the range of reading strategies used in an ordinary primary school classroom, than about the reading of single words, oral reading and reading by skilled adults. This paper describes and evaluates a method of testing children's silent reading in which they are their own…

A model service learning course for elementary teaching credential candidates is described. Preservice teachers taking a required university reading methods course studied scientifically-based reading instruction and volunteered in Los Angeles Unified School District classrooms during reading instruction time. Service learning experiences were…

What's involved in establishing a high-quality literacy program? This book outlines elements such as a schoolwide literacy vision, an involved staff, a strong sense of community, a top-notch resource collection, a plan for monitoring progress, and the right tools to work effectively with students and parents. Here the reader will find: suggestions…

This unit is designed as a planning guide for a literature-based approach to teaching reading, writing, vocabulary, and reasoning. It serves as a model to reinforce the important aspects of literacy through a literature-based approach in which children read authentic literature and engage in authentic tasks relative to that literature. The unit…

Intended for teachers of grades 4-8, this book presents a flexible format for reading, designed to be used with students who have different backgrounds and experiences with reading literature. The book's first 3 sections, "Character,""Setting," and "Plot," proceed step-by-step through the recognition of these basic…

Chapters in this book address the problems faced in today's diverse neighborhoods, schools, and classrooms, as well as the opportunities diversity provides. The schools, teachers, administrators, families, and communities drawn on in these selections provide examples of the effective integration of what is known about achieving success for all…

A research-based model of adult literacy categorizes adult reading habits into four categories: (1) illiteracy, the inability to read; (2) aliteracy, the absence of reading by those who are able to read; (3) selective literacy, reading only one type of material for a single purpose; and (4) active literacy, fully embracing literacy in all aspects…

This book provides hands-on activities for grades 1-2 that make phonics instruction easy and fun for teachers and children in the classroom. The book offers methods for practice, reinforcement, and assessment of phonics skills. A poem is used to introduce the phonics element of this book, vowel diphthongs. The poem is duplicated so children can…

Melding what has been learned from research, theory, and experience, this book presents a comprehensive plan for assisting students in becoming lifelong readers and attaining the level of critical literacy crucial for success in the 21st century. Chapters begin with a brief personal statement or scenario to spark interest in the topic and to…

This practical guide to teaching reading offers activities to teach reading readiness and mathematics. It also discusses the reasons for reading to children, teaching phonics, and using the basal reader. The section on reading readiness focuses on the importance of such skills, and specific reading readiness skills such as visual discrimination,…

Over the past two decades, researchers and language specialists have addressed the problem of a lack of resources in developing nations for teaching English as a Second Language by using the Book Flood approach, which "floods" classroom with high-interest illustrated story books. Components of such programs include language experience,…

The single most important task facing elementary school teachers today is teaching students to read by the end of third grade. Learning to read in those formative years is essential to develop the higher order thinking skills demanded in the older grades, when students are reading to learn. Beginning readers must be engaged in highly purposeful…

This paper describes the Beginning Teacher Survey Study's rationale, design, theoretical framework, research questions, and findings. The study was designed to: develop a survey that would gather information from beginning teachers about their preservice and induction learning experiences; develop theoretically and empirically based constructs of…