Early literacy development is the gateway to reading and future academic success. Learning about sound-letter correspondence and basic decoding strategies are but two fundamental skills that have been found to support this later success. In addition, an emphasis on environmental print (e.g., McDonald's, Wal-Mart, Shell) and functional print (e.g.,…

"Interactive Shared Book Reading" is a general practice that adults may use when reading with children and is intended to enhance young children's language and literacy skills. Typically, "Interactive Shared Book Reading" involves an adult reading a book to a child or a small group of children and using a variety of techniques…

Vygotsky (1978) presented ideas influential to the "constructivist" approach to education. This approach included the "zone of proximal development," and defined what is essential for student's development of a higher cognitive ability in order to become self-motivated learners. His theory also directly relates to the research regarding the…

Parents are their child's first and most important teacher. This booklet introduces parents to techniques for helping their toddlers learn to read. Included is a story about how one mother encourages her son to read, a sample reading activity, and a checklist for parents of toddlers. This brochure is based on "A Child Becomes a Reader--Birth to…

This study describes the interactions of three adult-child reading partnerships in a program that matches corporate volunteers with "at risk" students for weekly hour-long story reading sessions. Using discourse analysis within a sociocultural framework, the researcher identified variation in the way these partners were constructing the act and…

English-language learners, according to research, learn best through instruction that draws upon their strength in their first language. It is unlikely that any teacher would have knowledge of even a fraction of the languages that are spoken by students in American classrooms, particularly since some large school districts report as many as a…

Labeling literary or artistic periods is always tricky, and labeling an emerging period (such as this post-postmodern one) is, of course, impossible. Harold Bloom has labeled this period the "chaotic age" because of the canon wars that have raged among factions. One writer with a place in any canon and who is an anodyne to the chaos of…

A study determined if reading aloud to fourth-grade students would have a positive effect on their attitudes toward reading, and if there would be a difference between the attitudes of boys and girls. In Jersey City, New Jersey, 28 fourth-grade students were read aloud to on a daily basis for 15 minutes over 14 weeks. A pretest and posttest were…

One of education's most important goals should be to promote the lifetime love of reading. However, the standards initiative, the debate about creating a national curriculum, and the bashing of whole language efforts are among the high visibility trends that are causing teachers and administrators to focus on phonics, spelling, vocabulary, and…

Information on children's activities in the home with other family members was collected in the 1991 National Household Education Survey. The premise of the survey was that readiness for school may be affected by experiences that children bring with them to the classroom. Data were collected by telephone from the parents and guardians of 13,892…

This short guide, intended for parents, offers 10 suggestions from "Becoming a Nation of Readers," the Report of the National Commission on Reading, along with specific ideas to help children become better readers: (1) help children acquire a wide range of knowledge; (2) talk with children about their experiences; (3) encourage children…

To increase the reading level of students who come from homes where reading is not valued or modeled, a social context was created where inexperienced readers could interact with adults and books. Three students from homes where reading was not valued were read to by adults two to three times each day for six weeks. Discussion of the book was…

A study investigated what pregnant women and mothers of infants do to develop language and promote a love of reading in their children during the early stages of life. Two surveys were used, the first completed by 15 pregnant women, and the second completed by 15 women with infant children. Results indicated that: (1) the majority of pregnant…

The central purpose of storytelling in the classroom is for enjoyment, both on the part of the storyteller and the audience. On the other hand, especially when time is allotted for storytelling during reading instruction periods, teachers can integrate the art of storytelling with practical competence building activities. For example, the tale of…

Part of a series designed to provide practical ideas parents can use to help children become readers, this booklet focuses on how to encourage young children to write. The booklet describes the kinds of writing that children do, offers suggestions on how to encourage children to experiment with spelling, and urges parents not to be overly…