This literature review examines the relationship between phonemic awareness and the ability to read. It addresses four main issues: (1) if phonemic awareness is a prerequisite for or a consequence of learning to read; (2) what is needed to teach phonemic awareness; (3) tasks or activities and assessment tools to develop phonemic awareness; and (4)…

Numerous studies have focused on attitudes toward reading and how to measure such attitudes. The present study examined the effects of both the survey format and the reading abilities of 82 sixth graders at a middle school in McDuffie County, Georgia. Since all of the students had taken the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, the language arts composite…

This paper builds upon the "Review of Research and Other Related Evidence" that was commissioned for the government of the United Kingdom's National Literacy Strategy and also upon a subsequent review of international research evidence on children's writing. The paper suggests how "synergy" (combined effect) may be created by…

In today's society, parents are often too busy to read with their children or perhaps cannot even read themselves. In response to these problems, the researcher would like to propose that audiobooks are a good alternative to parental reading. This project was designed to show the importance of reading to children. The use of audiobooks was a…

This paper provides an overview of Breakthrough to Literacy, a research-based early literacy program that combines interactive software, quality print materials, take-home materials and staff development to provide individualized reading instruction for students. It uses technology to help children understand the relationship between sound, print,…

This paper provides an overview of Helping One Student To Succeed (HOSTS), a language arts program that uses one-on-one mentoring to help low-achieving students improve reading and problem-solving skills. Goals of the program include improving academic achievement in reading; building student problem-solving skills; and improving student behavior,…

Competent readers use strategies automatically; moreover, the use of strategies is a natural part of their reading process. Interested in the effects of the direct teaching of strategies to poor readers, a researcher decided to use a classroom action research approach. She studied reading strategies used by competent readers before, during, and…

This book and the conference that gave rise to its chapters were conceived as a means of investigating how to translate important sets of research findings in reading and reading instruction into practice. Topics for inclusion were selected for their high priority in terms of practice or policy; for their potential for making a substantial…

Teachers can greatly extend a child's literacy development through the use of interactive read-alouds. When a story is read aloud to children a number of opportunities arise for extended activities that are related to the story and further literacy support. Children are able to learn about literacy through an adult modeling good reading behavior.…

This 20th Yearbook of the College Reading Association reflects the theme of "community" again and again, in diverse ways. First in the yearbook are the Presidential Address by Marino C. Alvarez, "Adolescent Literacy: Are We in Contact?" and the three Keynote Addresses: "My Life in Reading" (J. Chall); "A…

A study compared the benefits of phonological awareness instruction along with and without a phonics computer software program to improve phonological and reading skills in elementary students with mild mental disabilities. During the eight weeks of the study in the fall of 1999, elementary resource students were taught phonological awareness…

This report stresses the need to incorporate various methods of teaching as a means of developing an integrated curriculum to address the lack of phonetic skills amongst second grade and kindergarten students. The target population of Site A consisted of a kindergarten classroom in a medium-sized district of a growing middle class community…

This paper shows how the concept of general objectivity can be used to improve behavioral science measurement, particularly as it applies to the Lexile Framework, a tool for objectively measuring reading comprehension. It begins with a dialogue between a physicist and a psychometrician that details some of the differences between physical science…

Noting that the questions of when and how to teach beginning reading are among the most controversial in early childhood education, this chapter examines how young children develop as readers. The chapter begins with a focus on the emergent literacy perspective for the insights it provides into young children's reading and writing development. The…

A study examined whether Reading Recovery students in a consortium of six school districts in Plainfield, Illinois were able to read increasingly more difficult text, and whether discontinued reading Recovery children maintain the ability to read average level classroom materials through the fifth grade. Results indicated that children do maintain…