This study examined 2,570 Chinese characters taught in Chinese elementary schools. Findings indicated that visual complexity, phonetic regularity, and semantic transparency of characters increased from early to later grades. Characters introduced in first/second grade contained fewer strokes but were less likely to be regular or transparent than…

Finds in year 1, children showed effects of neighborhood size in high frequency words read in stories and in low frequency words read in lists and stories; in year 2, rimes from large neighborhoods were read more accurately than rimes from other neighborhoods; and by year 3, effects on low-frequency words continued, but not for high-frequency…

Finds that teachers trained in Reading Recovery (RR) modified their regular classroom teaching to use RR-type instructional practices and taught students the strategies typically taught during RR tutoring sessions. Concludes that further research should be done to understand how aspects of this beginning reading intervention program affect the…

Looks closely at students to discover if the conception of reading as decoding is sufficient for beginning readers. Discusses how one student did not seem to know how to enter into the imaginative world of texts or how to listen and respond to literature. Outlines how the notion of culture helps educators enable students to approach texts in…

Discusses the apprenticeship approach to teaching reading. Finds two useful insights to be drawn from traditional apprenticeship: (1) the movement from observation, through coaching, to practice can act as a model for reading instruction; and (2) the importance of the social context in which learning takes place. (MG)

Provides an A to Z listing of alphabet book activities that are appropriate for both beginning and developing readers. (MG)

Discusses the intertextuality and metafiction of children's literature for beginning readers; specifically Allan Ahlberg's "Ten in a Bed." (MG)

Draws a humorous analogy between superstitious behavior induced in chickens and the beliefs and folkways that are manifested in the teaching of beginning reading and the teaching of study strategies. Argues that it is very easy and natural to fall into patterns of superstitious, meaningless behavior, such as teaching from basal readers. (RS)

Discusses children's interest in names, and the importance of this interest for their developing literacy. (MM)

Discusses connections between play and reading at the primary level. Notes that sociodramatic play has the clearest link to reading because it involves imagination and manipulation of time and reality. Argues that play facilitates reading when it involves both the manipulation of symbols and acts of reading and writing. (MM)

Describes five steps for increasing the literacy level of adult beginning readers using creative plays. Notes that creative plays as reading material empowers the adult beginning reader because (1) the content is personalized; (2) it allows for positive reinforcement on an affective level; and (3) it provides insights into possible strategies for…

Discusses the critical contribution of story awareness to beginning reading. Discusses cultural influences on story awareness, encouraging the use of literature in classrooms, questioning strategies, and concepts of story. (SR)

Finds sequences of "episodes" that included various reading and talk strategies within emergent reading done by preschoolers. Indicates that children accumulate a repertoire of strategies, rather than abandoning old strategies as they develop new ones. Reveals several book, setting, and reading factors that contributed to changing strategies…

Examines what is entailed in effective phonics instruction and shows how such instruction can be integrated into a wide variety of approaches to the teaching of beginning reading. Discusses nine guidelines for exemplary phonics instruction that can be incorporated into classrooms using basal readers, whole-language philosophy, or shared reading of…

Investigates the kind of print-related knowledge that emergent readers must possess to learn to point to the words of a text as they recite it from memory (fingerpoint-reading) and to remember information about the print from this activity. Reveals that different types of print knowledge facilitate different aspects of fingerpoint-reading. (SR)