Seeking to discover how comprehensively and systematically one significant category of semantic elements is taught in current reading instructional material, a study surveyed the teaching and use of prefixes in the teachers' guides, readers, and workbooks (grades two to six) of six major reading series. Findings indicated that many of the most…

A scheme based on Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives was developed for classifying questions asked in basal reading manuals. A total of 6,988 questions from 144 lesson plans selected from basal readers from four major publishers were analyzed; 2,754 questions were from the 1950-1959 time period, and 4,234 were from the 1966-1975 time…

The criteria used to compare the effectiveness of the individualized and basal reader approaches in this study were based on vocabulary, comprehension, and attitude toward reading as well as the number, type, and difficulty of books voluntarily read during second grade. Near the end of kindergarten, children in three schools were randomly assigned…

The purpose of this study was to enumerate, categorize, and compare the types of reading comprehension questions and activities included in the manuals of selected basal reading series. The Barrett Taxonomy--Cognitive and Affective Dimensions of Reading Comprehension was selected as the categorization taxonomy. Basal series were classified as…

Examines six recent basal series and compares them to books used in older studies to find evidence of improvement in the portrayal of female characters. (JC)

Suggests that by using this chart, teachers can augment their reading program, and notes that the many publishers listed offer a wide range of materials according to difficulty level. (JC)

Reading is a tool for learning. The goal for the teaching of reading must be to produce lovers of reading. A holistic approach should replace exclusive dependence on basal readers. Effective methods are the following: (1) language experience approach; (2) word banks; (3) pattern books; (4) sustained silent reading; and (5) directed…

Explains the use of the Dolch List in the lower elementary grades. (FL)

Discusses the applicability of research into cognitive schemas, metacognition, instructional design, and learning strategies to textbook creation; the value of well-structured, coherent, and focused texts; readability formulas, narrative characteristics, science and social studies texts, glossaries, dictionaries, teachers' manuals, and practice…

Investigates the effectiveness of a direct instruction model for teaching children to comprehend anaphoric relationships. The results provide further support for the efficacy of a direct instructional model for teaching children reading comprehension skills. (HOD)

Describes the evolution of a phonics-basal elementary reading program in a rural New Mexico school district and the resulting improvement in reading. Notes the conditions in which changes initiated by the district and the Follow Through sponsor occurred. Explains monitoring and evaluation advances. (SB)

Reports that, as a group, elementary school teachers in one large school district felt that they must teach beyond the basic textbook to enable gifted students to reach their potential. (FL)

This book argues that it is the incorporation of a multicultural agenda into basal readers, the primary tool for teaching reading in elementary schools, that has stunted American children's ability to read. The book shows how basal readers have been systematically "dumbed down" in an effort to raise minority students'"self…

An experiment in which teachers attempted to read basal readers encoded in Greek orthography suggests that using such materials helps teachers consider ways of fostering reading strategies, think about the nature of reading as a psycholinguistic process, and remember how it feels to be a beginning reader. (GT)

This study evaluated the transfer of decoding skills from a code-emphasis program that used a controlled text to a literature-based basal reading series consistent with the whole language approach. Participants were 11 elementary students with learning disabilities who received reading instruction in a resource program. Results found students…