Compares differences in achievement of below-grade-level students receiving basal reading instruction with peers in a writing-process-oriented language arts program. Finds that language arts students spent more time reading and writing, were exposed to more types of literature and writing activities, and exhibited more positive attitudes toward…

This study compared intellectually superior students (ages 8-9) identified as accelerated readers (n=11) or nonreaders (n=8) at the age of 4 and provided similar types of elementary school basal reading instruction. Accelerated readers scored higher than nonreaders on measures of word attack and dictation, with no differences on word recognition…

Describes an intensive integrated art and language arts instructional program for first-grade at-risk children. Notes that a combination of whole language, language experience, and basal reading approaches. Finds a marked improvement in reading, writing ability, and language ability. (RS)

Reviews reasons why many teachers are moving away from the basal approach to teaching reading. Describes literature-based instruction, and suggests the adjustments that teachers and students will need to make. Describes two plans for literature + basal partnerships as an intermediate step between the basal and a totally literature-based approach.…

Examines an 11-week phoneme-awareness program in kindergarten followed by a first-grade reading program that emphasized explicit, systematic instruction in the alphabetic code. Analyzes a phonetically-based spelling program. Compares a control group in the school district's regular basal-reading program with a treatment group. Concludes that the…

A study attempted to determine how students in literature-based reading programs compare to students in basal-based, skill-oriented reading programs in terms of their interest in reading. The study was carried out on a sample of 215 pupils in 9 third and fifth grade classrooms from school districts in Eastern Kansas and Northeastern Oklahoma.…

Numerous concepts in the teaching of reading have been emphasized since the middle of the 20th century. Four such concepts are the Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA), traditional linguistic procedures, rebus, and programmed reading. Each has advantages and serious disadvantages. ITA stressed a rather consistent sound/symbol relationship, but pupils…

A study examined retelling as a reading comprehension-enhancing technique. Subjects were 26 urban, lower socio-economic fourth graders from New Jersey (Essex County), including 10 girls and 16 boys. A control sample answered questions as a follow-up to reading basal stories; an experimental sample retold the stories as a follow-up. Comparable…

A project developed a program for improving the attitudes of primary students toward reading and encouraging them to become strategic readers. The targeted population consisted of first-grade students in rural-suburban communities west of a large midwestern city. The problem of poor attitudes toward reading and lack of knowledge of reading…

This study examined the attitudes and perceptions of teachers using the whole language approach to teaching reading with those of teachers using the basal approach. Specifically, attitudes were compared based on teachers' instructional selection, district mandates, and personal demographics. Data on attitudes and opinions concerning the teaching…

A descriptive study examined the nature of compensatory education (CE) reading instruction and its relationship to the classroom setting. Subjects were 28 second-grade children and 5 pairs of second-grade and compensatory education reading teachers at 5 elementary schools in a school district located in a small community. Data on the teachers,…

Two approaches to spelling instruction were compared by measuring which program was more successful. Thirty-two fourth-grade students participated; instructional intervention spanned 6 months. The control group used the materials and procedures of the Macmillian Basal Series. The experimental group used the Spelltex Individualized Spelling Kit.…

A great deal can be taught using the newspaper because this medium contains a variety of information in a number of differing formats. Straight news and sports stories can be used to teach or reinforce the skills of attending to detail, comparing and contrasting, categorizing, determining the main idea, understanding vocabulary, sequencing,…

A study examined th phonics instruction that five basal reader series provide from kindergarten through grade six. The five basal programs (designated as Series A through E) that were examined are both similar and dissimilar in the recommendations they make for phonics. One series covers as many as 129 letter-sound correspondences; another covers…

A study was conducted to assess the values presented in American and Hispanic-American children's readers. The categories of primary interest on the value scale used include: positive behavior, positive feelings, negative behavior, negative feelings, traditional values, Judeo-Christian religious values, other religious values, and neutral values.…