NCLB and Reading First are negotiated in implementing beginning reading instruction. The article describes and analyzes how two critical conditions for creating opportunity--access to qualified teachers and rigorous academic curriculum--are met by examining the enactment and adaptation of a prescriptive core reading program disproportionately…

Ken Goodman and Frank Smith met for the first time in 1970, though they had each been studying and writing, separately, about the reading process for several years prior to that. They commemorated the occasion by collaborating on an article, On the Psycholinguistic Method of Teaching Reading which appeared soon after in The Elementary School…

Draws a suggested framework for beginning reading instruction from psycholinguistic insights into the reading process. (DD)

Irreverently examines Rudolph Flesch's theories for teaching a child to read "properly." Alternatives to Flesch's method are also given. (HTH)

Discusses how patterned reading materials may be used in initial reading to help students use their semantic and syntactic knowledge to predict meaning. (DD)

Explores the gap between adult writers and children readers and examines some misconceptions about writing for children. (HTH)

Children's rhymes are one way of introducing children to the world of print and reading instruction. (DD)

Identifies inaccuracies and distortions in the research supporting the No Child Left Behind legislation, as well as in government documents and the National Reading Panel "Summary Booklet." Offers alternatives to the limitations of the Reading First initiative through five major sections. Presents 12 recommendations regarding Reading…

Considers how public opinion and entire theories of teaching reading are based in the false Just So story--Just Sound Out, and you can read. Explains why sounding out is a handicap. Suggests a better alternative, teaching by recognizing words. (SG)

An organic approach to the teaching of reading emphasizes the selection of vocabulary from the experiential background of the child. (JH)

Synthesizes research on the basic processes and instructional factors that influence literacy development. Points out patterns of agreement and disagreement among literacy scholars and practitioners. Presents an agenda for reading research of the future. (RS)

Presents scenarios from a kindergarten classroom in which dramatization is used extensively in conjunction with nonfiction books. Shows how the children acted out topics that ranged from the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving to the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., showing that they were able to develop rich representations of nonfiction materials.…

Suggests new bases of information that need to be considered in deciding how to handle phonics effectively in beginning reading and writing instruction. Presents a description of phonics instruction in the classroom of a teacher of a whole language kindergarten. (MG)