The responses of 84 children (42 in kindergarten and 42 in first grade) while trying to identify sight words that were similar in sound (bowl/pole), similar in sound and shape (boat/boot), or dissimilar (cup/moon) yielded information about phonetic composition as a source of information by which beginning readers identify sight words. The…

In this study, eight groups of kindergarten children were trained to discriminate position and order differences in verbal and nonverbal item sequences in the context of a matching task or an associative learning task or both. Transfer was measured by having the subjects sight learn a list of words contrasting in position and order. Subsequently,…

The purpose of this book is to help teachers to select reading materials and equipment for classroom use. Part 1 explains the objectives and defines the terminology to be used. Part 2, Criteria for Assessing Reading Approaches, places before the reader many of the factors which influence children's reading progress. The factors include the reading…

This study was designed to investigate the differences in effectiveness in teaching sight words to kindergarten children by using words only (no-picture group), words and simple pictures (simple-picture group), and words and complex pictures (complex-picture group). The subjects were 30 kindergarten children selected from two kindergarten classes.…

During sight word acquisition lessons, 11 mildly handicapped children, aged 6 to 11, were compared on questioning techniques--individual ordered questioning, or questioning requiring unison responding. Children learned the words taught with unison responding at a faster rate than the other words, though the difference was not great. (Author/JDD)

The whole language philosophy of teaching reading and writing is outlined and related to children's acquisition of oral and written language. A typical whole language classroom is described, along with the roles of the teacher and students. A chart contrasts whole language theory with more typical methods of literacy education. (Author/JDD)

Discusses a study of the relationship of Australian elementary school students' word reading strategies to comprehension level, reading time, and phonemic awareness. Reports that performance in reading both irregular and nonsense words is a reasonably good predictor of subsequent performance. Recommends remedial training for students lacking…

Three employees with moderate mental retardation who were nonreaders were taught to use sight words to self-initiate job tasks in competitive employment settings. Training resulted in the ability to read job-specific sight words, to use verbalized self-instruction, to use a self-monitoring checklist, to self-initiate work tasks, and increased…

This study investigates prospective relationships between phonemic awareness and reading performance during the first year of Finnish primary school. Pedagogical interest lay in finding out whether systematic use of phonics in reading instruction supported children's reading performance even if children can already decode. A total of 85 children…

Designed to be used primarily as a reader for first and second graders, but also as a speller and vocabulary builder for any student who needs help in language arts mastery, this book combines phonics with the "Look and Say" methods to present a step-by-step learning guide. Following an introduction explaining the five-step procedure…

To determine whether learning words can be accomplished effectively using the computer, 11 first grade children in an experimental group were taught specific sight words on the Apple computer as compared to the teaching of those same words to 11 children in the classroom using flashcards. A total of 25 words was taught over a five-week period. The…

Developed and coordinated by the Bureau of Reading Education of the New York State Education Department, Project Alert is a statewide inservice program to facilitate instituting or improving the diagnostic-prescriptive approach to reading instruction. As part of this program, a reading resource kit was prepared by the bureau to give structure and…

Twenty-one trainable mentally handicapped students (age range of 126-247 months) at two schools completed 2 years of reading instruction using a sight method of learning. (Author/MH)

Reports on two experiments that explore the comprehension difficulties of children with normal word recognition ability. Concludes that skilled readers engage in more constructive processing and that comprehension difficulties are not the result of a defective working memory. (SRT)

Three experiments examined the effect of practice on the acquisition, retention, and generalization of children's skill in rapidly naming visually presented words. Found that, although poor readers did not become as fast as good readers in naming words, they made gains in the time required to access names from print. (PAM)