Rafe Esquith has taught for 23 years at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School in Los Angeles. In a neighborhood plagued by gangs, guns, and drugs, his is a special classroom known as Room 56. Within its walls, children living in poverty play Vivaldi concertos, perform unabridged plays by Shakespeare, and go on to attend top universities. In 2003,…

Teaching beginning reading to children with physical and speech impairments can be especially challenging. One reading strategy, known as the Nonverbal Reading Approach, is specifically designed to promote decoding and word reading for this population of students. The authors present three studies that show the successful use of this approach.

The present study examined the role of verbal working memory (memory span and tongue-twister), two-character Chinese pseudoword reading (two tasks), rapid automatized naming (RAN) (letters and numbers), and phonological segmentation (deletion of rimes and onsets) in inferential text comprehension in Chinese in 31 less competent comprehenders…

"Fast ForWord"[R] is a family of computer-based products. According to the developer's web site, the programs help students develop and strengthen the cognitive skills necessary for successful reading and learning. Participants spend 30 to 100 minutes a day, five days a week, for four to 16 weeks with these adaptive exercises. "Fast…

Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) is a peer-tutoring program. According to the developer's web site, it is designed to be incorporated into the existing curriculum with the goal of improving the academic performance of children with diverse academic needs. Teachers train students to use PALS procedures. Students partner with peers,…

Drawing on the skills activities found in a variety of basal readers, this book helps teachers who often struggle to reconcile the mandates of direct instruction on basic skills with the preferences of teachers who prefer to teach using children's literature. The book presents lessons built on a list of skills that students should learn in grades…

Drawing on the skills activities found in a variety of basal readers, this book helps teachers who often struggle to reconcile the mandates of direct instruction on basic skills with the preferences of teachers who prefer to teach using children's literature. It presents lessons built on a list of skills that are usually included in the third-…

Stresses the importance of recall and retention in reading for information. (RB)

Concludes that the ratio of boys to girls experiencing reading disability problems in the Seattle Public Schools is three to two. (RB)

Reviews reading and instructional materials in the Educational Resources Information Center on the Bicentennial. (RB)