This book helps teachers and media directors to use children's literature to enrich elementary reading programs and to pursue sound educational objectives as they share the books and stories. It provides activities designed to expand and enrich the opportunities for children to become literate. It is a tool which addresses the need for children to…

A study determined attitudes of elementary teachers of grades K-6 towards the use of invented spelling. Twenty-nine teachers in two rural school districts in Northwest Ohio completed a questionnaire designed to investigate the extent of whole language use, spelling strategies taught, and attitudes towards invented spelling. Results indicated that…

Class collaboration and small group composition illustrate the embedding of cooperative learning theory in whole language classroom events. Through this experience all students participate in active learning. The teacher has a weighty role in decision making, setting of the lesson, assigning roles, and monitoring segments of cooperative learning…

Dissatisfied with traditional approaches to beginning reading practices dominated by phonics, basal reading series, and workbooks, and more importantly, influenced by research and knowledge about how children learn to read, teachers/educators launched a grass-roots whole language movement in the early 1980s. However, the term "whole…

A practicum was developed to assist prekindergarten teachers present a whole language approach in their already developmentally appropriate classes. Six teachers from three classrooms serving 63 four- and five-year-old children participated in on-site training and weekly consultations. The teachers were all experienced paraprofessionals with Child…

A study examined the position of phonics instruction or direct skill instruction within the context of a whole language, meaning-based approach to reading instruction. A total of 22 first-grade students participated--12 students received instruction in phonics while 10 followed a meaning based curriculum. All were administered a phonics test and a…

A practicum was designed to increase the writing opportunities of 37 prekindergarten children in three classes through staff development. Formal and informal surveys of prekindergarten teachers confirmed the need for more information on child development, the development of the writing process, and prekindergarten whole language. A series of…

This study examined teachers' beliefs about how reading takes place and how reading processes develop. Subjects, 25 first-, fourth-, and sixth-grade teachers in five different Venezuelan schools, were administered protocols that consisted of a researcher/teacher conference, classroom observation, and an inventory designed to identify beliefs about…

Drawing on interviews with 103 policy actors who are active in shaping national reading policy, a study examined the levels of interest groups' perceived influence in the national reading policy arena, and their beliefs on reading instructional approaches. Employing thematic analysis and analysis of variance, the study finds that the interest…

There seems to be a pendulum in the field of education that sways from one extreme to another when a teaching method is introduced. The whole language concept caught on, and phonics instruction was then considered defunct. The pendulum now in the process of swinging back is being intercepted, before it goes to the extreme of "all…

A study examined how the "Reading Classroom Explorer" (RCE, a hypermedia learning environment) might enhance the learning of preservice teacher education students as they prepare to assume internships. RCE is a searchable database of digitized video clips from the Center for the Study of Reading's video series "Exemplary Ways To Teach Reading."…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the implementation of the Hello Reader Scholastic Phonics program as an addition to an already rich, literature-based curriculum. Test data suggested that primary grade students were not developing phonetic skills sufficient to meet district expectations. This research was designed to…

Methods used for teaching children to read could be the whole language approach, or the phonics approach, or maybe a balance of both. This paper is a discussion of appropriate and effective teaching practices through interesting methods such as music, the use of culturally diverse materials, and the role of toys and television as they relate to…

Considering the debate in reading instruction between whole language and phonics, this paper suggests personalizing the teaching of reading using both methods of reading instruction. It gives two examples of how personalized units of reading instruction were used. The paper suggests giving pupils ample opportunities to choose and read a library…

This paper explores what a reading teacher might do to guide students to achieve and be successful in reading. The paper first points out that there are selected programs of reading instruction which are individualized for optimal student success, and then discusses some of these programs, such as: individualized reading; the experience chart;…