Asserts that the language experience approach and invented spelling can be used to teach writing and reading in kindergarten. Notes that this approach takes advantage of children's enthusiasm for sharing stories, and individualizes literacy development. (MM)

Describes a program that associates phonics instruction with children's earliest reading and writing, using the ERIS method to teach sound/letter correspondences and to provide opportunities for writing and reading. (NKA)

Arguing that reading and writing in school should be natural and enjoyable for children, this book is based on the Piagetian theory that knowledge is constructed by each individual and the psycholinguistic view that learning takes place best when viewed as holistic and when instructional materials for children are authentic and purposeful. The…

A practicum was implemented to improve the sight-word vocabulary and attitudes toward reading among 22 second-grade students reading below grade level. The program took approximately 45 minutes a day, 2 days a week. The language experience approach was used in conjunction with word processors. The different types of activities included dictated…

Reading aloud to children is the most important step towards making a child a reader. It exposes them to print and excites their curiosity through intriguing story lines. Parents play an enormous role in this aspect of reading development, because it begins long before a child is in school. In the beginning of school, teachers spend time assessing…

A second grade teacher in a rural Appalachian school draws heavily on familiar regional literature and the children's own rich mountain heritage and culture to teach reading to her students, covering the required basal readings in only one day per week. Students use the basals on Mondays and retell the texts on paper. They spend the rest of the…

Suggests using daily journals to fuse language experience techniques with opportunities for independent writing more characteristic of an emergent literacy perspective. Explains that journals combine group dictation with independent writing to involve children in purposeful literacy activities. (MG)

Addressing subjects ranging from reading readiness to phonics, this book examines several fundamental elements of beginning reading instruction. Divided into 12 chapters, the book begins with a chapter providing a general overview of reading instruction, including the debate between the perception of reading as decoding or comprehension, and other…

This paper argues that literature-centered reading programs, based on the perspective that reading is the process of bringing meaning to print, are in the best interest of the language minority students in the nation's elementary schools. After a review of basal reading systems and language-centered reading programs, the paper describes the…

Integrating reading and writing at the primary level is important because writing and then reading back what has been written gives purpose to both, and the sense of overall purpose enhances reading while the sense of audience enhances writing. Another reason for starting this integration with beginning students is that writing creates a purpose…

Creating a link between current research findings and classroom practice, this book analyzes, compares, and critiques prevalent classroom strategies in beginning reading instruction in light of expertise available in other countries. The book begins with a section on "Points of Departure," consisting of three chapters:…