Five subskills in learning to read are identified, and their place in the methods of teaching reading and their relations to each other are discussed. It is concluded that phonemic segmentation must be the most important and the most difficult task in learning to read. (Author/LMO)

The Student-Level Observation of Beginning Reading (SOBR) was designed to focus on the content of instructional activities in reading at the individual student level, and is based on a time sample of time spent on specific activities. (Author/BW)

Describes a preschool program that introduces four-year-olds to print concepts such as left to right, top to bottom, words beginning with the same sound, and upper and lower case letters. (AEA)

Contains contributions from three educators concerning the following: (1) child-made books in beginning reading, (2) ideas for celebrating a "reading week" as part of American Education Week, and (3) using doll families to teach phonics to beginning readers. (FL)

The article describes a beginning reading program that was planned and implemented by an interdisciplinary team for 14 first-grade language-handicapped children. (DLS)

The development of a positive relationship between a teacher and a sixth grader with a learning disability (LD) is described, based on interviews and observations over a school year. Insights that the teacher developed into education of LD students, based on the student's attitudes, family relationships, and earlier experiences, are offered. (SW)

A kindergarten teacher recounts her classroom experience introducing children to reading via the whole language approach, which is based on the belief that children learn to read and write naturally by listening, watching, speaking, and writing. Classroom photographs and samples of student work illustrate the article. (DB)

This paper discusses major principles characterizing the whole language philosophy of teaching and learning; assumptions of the mechanistic and relational paradigms; whole language practices such as the Shared Book Experience and Reading Recovery for helping students with reading difficulties; and the potential of whole language for developing…

Examines the Riordan Foundation's successful strategy in establishing computer-assisted reading labs in public and private elementary schools nationwide. The foundation provides challenge grants to applicant schools to purchase equipment for the "Writing to Read" program and assists them in raising additional funds from local businesses.…

Reviews the typical approach (synthetic phonics) to teaching reading in Finland. Suggests that teachers in English-speaking countries can learn from problems Finnish teachers face and vice versa. Finds that, despite a highly regular writing system, Finnish teachers find that a heavy phonics emphasis does not solve their reading instruction…

Discusses three children who successfully learned phonics in three very different instructional settings (conventional, whole language, and tutoring in a learning center). Notes that the children developed in similar ways, yet at different rates; the teachers nudged the learners toward literacy development; and writing was a part of the curriculum…

Describes an action plan to help every child read well. The research base for successful reading is outlined, and specific suggestions are made for reading strategies for preschool, beginning reading, and later elementary school programs. Ten strategies are mapped out to achieve the goal of every child reading. (SLD)

Describes how interactive writing is used in one primary classroom, and shows how it provides a means for teachers to engage in effective literacy instruction within the framework of constructing texts filled with personal and collective meaning. Discusses the roots of interactive writing, interactive writing in practice, what interactive writing…

Environmental print activities provide students' families with an integrative way to encourage reading. While in the grocery store recently, the author watched two young girls begging their mother to stop as they pointed to their "favorite" snack on the shelf. They were about five years old and probably couldn?t read yet, but they knew exactly…

This article focuses on a concept that has rarely been studied in beginning reading research--a child's concept of word in text. Recent examinations of this phenomenon suggest that a child's ability to match spoken words to written words while reading--a concept of word in text--plays a pivotal role in early reading development. In this article,…