Sparked by the Common Core State Standards, teachers and literacy experts are arguing about the role of a time-honored pillar of English/language arts instruction: classroom activities designed to help students understand what they are about to read. The attacks on--and defenses of--"prereading" are unfolding largely in cyberspace, through online…

This report, the sixth in a series developed by the Education Commission of the States (ECS) examining the impact of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act 2001, discusses Reading First, which replaces the Reading Excellence Act. The report states that Reading First, a voluntary program, aims at having all children achieve reading proficiency by the…

This brief article describes "Move, Touch, Read", a set of adaptations of commercial books to develop early Braille literacy prerequisites in young children and to systematize the transition from adapted to unadapted books. (DB)

The process of creating handmade books with children is a great way to experience communication through art and words. One of the important literacy skills children need to learn is "concepts of print." These include the basic understanding of what a book is, the ability to recognize the front and back covers, and the capacity to turn the pages…

An elementary school in Texas has developed a program of reading instruction that immediately provides early readers with ample reading opportunities and materials rather than constraining them with "reading readiness" assessment. Initially, the absence of sufficient reinforcement material in the basal readers required increased amounts of reading…

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)

Introducing Preschool Children to Reading through Parent Involvement is a project funded by a New York State Education Department mini-grant. The major activity of the project is to inform parents of preschool children of the research findings and theories concerning reading to young children. Three newsletters are mailed each year to families…

Southwest Educational Research Laboratory's (SEDL's) reading project examines early literacy in Grades K-2 and the prevention of early reading failure. The goals of this effort include the following: developing a framework of the cognitive foundations of learning to read that organizes research information; using that framework to organize…

Describes Cuba's preschool reading readiness program, which emphasizes phonemic analysis. (AEA)

The Braille Readiness Skills Grid identifies activities and skills that foster braille readiness in children with visual impairments. The grid assesses five readiness areas: tactile, fine motor, listening/attention, concept, and book/story. It is intended to encourage systematic braille readiness activities from infancy and foster children's…

This report describes the development and testing of a computerized early literacy diagnostic assessment for students in prekindergarten to grade 3 that can measure skills across a variety of preliteracy and reading domains. The STAR Early Literacy assessment was developed by a team of more than 50 people, including literacy experts,…

The program outlined in this guide was developed on the theory that an important factor in determining a child's success in reading is an enriched background of prereading educational experiences (in the areas of language, motor skills, auditory and visual perception, and self-image) which can be directed at home by parents. In this program, the…

The final report documents goals and achievements of Project CUE, a 3 year project to assist teachers of language impaired children to adapt regular reading readiness curricula to the students' needs. Objectives are listed, including conducting a needs assessment, selecting a basal reading series, and disseminating information on the project, and…

The use of the language experience approach to teach readiness and beginning reading and writing skills in preschool programs is explored. The value of this holistic approach is illustrated with a case study of a preschool child with a severe expressive language delay and phonological disorder. (DB)

To provide a scholarly basis for justifying and implementing a parent involved reading program, this annotated bibliography provides a review of the literature that helps to clarify the role of the parents, teachers, and administrators in reading progress; gives suggestions regarding the way parents can help their children in reading; and compiles…