Exemplary teacher research has established that explicit teaching plays a vital role in the K-12 classroom, with particular benefits for struggling readers. This book is a practical resource for explaining reading to students who do not learn easily. The book identifies 22 major skills and strategies associated with vocabulary development,…

Tired of assigning weekly spelling lists that students memorize for the test only to have them misspell the words in their daily writing? Then join Max Brand in his fifth-grade classroom where word learning is integrated fully into literacy workshops. Using spelling investigations, word study notebooks, reading logs, and writers' notebooks,…

This study investigated whether or not Hong Kong Chinese adults would benefit from hearing, or phonologically processing, unfamiliar English words upon first encountering them. Participants, who represented different levels of English proficiency, included Chinese undergraduate students, postgraduate students, and adult native speakers of English.…

This document was written to support the work of Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) programs. The message provided is straightforward: we can meet the challenge of supporting first and second language development in preschool children. This paper is organized around four questions: (1) Can we facilitate children's acquisition of English…

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…

This book is a guide to teaching English vocabulary to second-language learners. The book is divided into 30 chapters that teach 240 critical words. This vocabulary includes what English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL), adult literacy, and pre-general equivalency diploma students need to get ahead in today's competitive world. The guide's distinctive…

This paper describes the development, design, and implementation of an educational multimedia program. The program, "Jungle Quest," combined HyperStudio and word study in a game for classroom use. Methods for word study provide a carefully sequenced teaching of phonics, vocabulary, and spelling following children's natural stages of…

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…

A study was conducted to determine which approach for vocabulary development--isolated word lists, context clues, or a combination of both--would yield the best results. One sample of 17 sophomores used isolated word lists. The second sample of 20 freshmen used context clues to determine word meaning. The third sample of 13 sophomores used a…

Meant to guide administrators and teachers as they strive to meet Governor George W. Bush's goal for all students to read on grade level by the end of grade 3, this booklet presents descriptions of components of a research-based beginning reading program. The first section describes 12 essential components of a beginning reading program. In this…

This paper presents four arguments in favor of integrating literature into English as a foreign language (EFL) classes for grade school children, particularly in cases where academic language proficiency is the ultimate goal of instruction but where English exposure and use is limited to the classroom and school. The arguments include the…

Based on Stephen Crane's poems about war and his novel "The Red Badge of Courage," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that Crane examined war-related themes in prose and poetry; that close study of a poem for oral presentation helps readers see meaning or techniques not noted earlier; and that not all readers…

Based on "Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo" by Zlata Filipovic, this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that historical drama, like other historical fiction, is rooted in history but contains imaginary elements as well; and that the author describes in her diary what it was like to be a teenager in…

Written in a form that is easy to use in the classroom, this book presents a wide variety of ideas and teaching strategies adapted for content area teachers. There is a least one content area example for each strategy presented in the book; many strategies have examples gleaned from more than one subject. Chapters in the book are: (1) Reading To…