A teacher's theoretical viewpoint is pervasive. It determines not only the materials chosen and the way the materials are used, but also the perception the teacher holds of the reading process. It is important, therefore, for teachers to understand the theory on which their views are based so that they can understand why they have chosen a…

To discover the truth about the extent of children's reading vocabularies, a project was undertaken at the Falk Laboratory School, University of Pittsburgh, to determine how many words first, second, and third grade children could recognize in print. A team of graduate students tabulated the words appearing in commonly used basal materials and in…

Fifty-two first- and second-grade students participated in a basal reader study in 1974-1975, as a follow-up to a 1973-1974 study. All but four of the subjects had entered the Ginn 360 reading program the previous year as kindergarten and first-grade students; of the 52 subjects, 38 were making satisfactory progress in reading and were considered…

Designed to increase the students awareness that career and consumer education goals relate to the rules of worthwhile play and learning situations, this teacher's guide provides dialogue and activities based on existing concepts and content within the basal reader. The guide begins with lists of career education goal statements and consumer…

A 2-year continuation of one of the 27 U. S. Office of Education First Grade Reading Studies is reported. Students in the linguistics approach were initially taught to read using the experimental edition of "A Basic Reading Series Developed upon Linguistic Principles" by Charles C. Fries and others. Students in the basal reader approach…

Achievement gains of 78 fourth-grade students taught with an individualized approach using peer teaching were compared with gains of 64 fourth-grade students in another school who were taught with a basal-reader approach. Analysis of results from pretesting and posttesting with the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills indicated that the gains of the…

This study compared the achievement of students instructed by the use of a management system, Wisconsin Design for Reading Skill Development (WDRSD), for word attack skills in addition to the basal reader approach with the achievement of students instructed by the use of the basal reader approach alone. Two hundred forty-four fourth grade students…

Discusses a study that compared the use of interpretive dramatics activities to basal reader workbooks for developing the comprehension skills of recognition and recall of details, sequencing of events, and generalizing the main idea. (JM)

This study examined role models presented in primary-, fourth-, and seventh-grade basal readers and across basal series. Findings conclude that since children are influenced by models, basal authors should include role models who read and write frequently, with pleasure and variety. Teachers should provide live modeling or point out basal role…

Examined whether altering the sequence of the traditional basal reading lesson by placing enrichment activities first increased comprehension of text. Found altered format subjects (of 45 subjects in total) correctly answered 71% of comprehension questions, whereas traditional format subjects correctly answered only 58%. Suggests these significant…

Study compares the vocabulary generated from writing samples of 52 first-grade children in two whole language classrooms with vocabulary contained in the basal reader program. Concludes that whole language instruction does not limit children's exposure to systematic repetition of important vocabulary. (MM)

Various authors provide a wide range of instructional suggestions, including hints for parents on how to read aloud to older children, a story web prewriting technique, a lesson on similes, a description of a series of books designed to develop literacy in natural ways, and advice on using the question-answer relationship procedure and basal…

Indicates that adding large amounts of supportive information to basal reader stories increased children's story understanding and enhanced their interest in the stories, but had no effect on reading rate or the amount of important information included in story retellings. (FL)

Focuses on the development of materials to help textbook adoption committees evaluate the instructional quality of commercially developed basal reading programs. Describes the development of the Adoption Guidelines Booklets. (Author/NH)