In this paper we investigate whether homophones have "shared" (e.g., Dell, 1990; Levelt, Roelofs, & Meyer, 1999) or "independent" (e.g., Caramazza, Costa, Miozzo, & Bi, 2001) phonological representations. We carried out a homophone reading aloud task with low frequency irregular homophones and matched low frequency…

This experiment examined the item-level relationship between 7-year-olds' ability to read words aloud and their knowledge of the same words in the oral domain. Two types of knowledge were contrasted: familiarity with the phonological form of the word (lexical phonology), measured by auditory lexical decision, and semantic knowledge, measured by a…

This article reports on a teacher's experiment with Reader's Theatre (RT), an interactive play reading activity with elements of reading aloud, drama and theatre, for her 20 unmotivated learners of literature in a premier school in Malaysia. Using RT, the students staged Angela Wright's "Potato People". The procedures and design of the…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of rich and basic instruction to incidental exposure of target words with first-grade students within the context of repeated shared storybook reading. Participants were 224 first-grade students, randomly assigned to a condition by classroom, from three elementary schools that serve large…

Family literacy studies have shown that the role of parental storybook reading has an impact on children's success in school-based literacy instruction. Storybook reading is when adults read an appropriate text to their children. This review describes studies in which parents and children engage in storybook reading. It specifically reports…

This qualitative study builds on the previous body of emergent literacy research by investigating the use of storybook reading with parents during morning transition times through observation on fifteen toddlers (2- to 3-years old), their parents, and teachers in a university preschool classroom. The focus of this study is to investigate whether…

This paper presents findings from a correlational study of the relationship between teachers' vocabulary instruction practices and pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children's vocabulary. We observed sixteen teachers during three 90-minute language arts blocks, and we assessed the performance of their 244 children on knowledge of target words and…

The authors examined the cognitive benefits of physical manipulation. Participants were 76 kindergarten and first-grade students randomly assigned to 2 strategies: stories with pictures or manipulation. In the pictures strategy, participants listened to story content and viewed pictures. In the manipulation strategy, participants moved…

In this study, we examined the reliability and validity of curriculum-based measures (CBM) in reading for indexing the performance of secondary-school students. Participants were 236 eighth-grade students (134 females and 102 males) in the classrooms of 17 English teachers. Students completed 1-, 2-, and 3-minute reading aloud and 2-, 3-, and…

The purpose of this article is to examine developments in the area of family literacy over the last decade. Acknowledging the bifurcation that has occurred in the field of family literacy, as well as changing conceptions of literacy and of families, we review naturalistic studies of literacy embedded and enacted in communities and families across…

Dialogic reading is an interactive shared picture-book reading practice designed to enhance young children's language and literacy skills. During the shared reading practice, the adult and the child switch roles so that the child learns to become the storyteller with the assistance of the adult, who functions as an active listener and questioner.…

In this article, the author offers ways on how to find a voice when telling or sharing stories in print or in person. To find a voice, someone must: (1) Trust themselves; (2) Trust their audience whether they know they can trust them or not; (3) Be respectful in their inventions; (4) Listen to and read the stories of others; (5) Make mistakes; (6)…

If you're new to running a library or looking for a refresher, this book can serve as your first reference source for school library operation, providing overview information on a wealth of topics, lists of resources for more in-depth information, and coverage of current topics such as Web 2.0, fundraising, digital booktalks, and cybersafety.…

Introduction: Parents who were the primary caretakers of children in the Alphabetic and Contracted Braille Study (ABC Braille Study) revealed their perspectives about braille literacy. Methods: A 30-item questionnaire was constructed by the ABC Braille research team, and researchers conducted telephone interviews with 31 parents who were the…

This study evaluates the Better Parenting Programme (BPP) which has been implemented nationally in Jordan to enhance parents' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours related to caring for young children. The participants (N = 337, 94% female) were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group participated in…