Providing an international perspective on how children learn to read, this second of 2 volumes presents research studies and classroom experiences from the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Jamaica, and Israel, drawing on evidence from 18 countries. Essays in the volumes highlight implications for design, implementation, and…

A study described and evaluated a program for improving emerging literacy skills to better prepare children for beginning reading instruction. The targeted population consisted of kindergarten children in a blue-collar, lower-income community located at the southwest border of a large midwestern city. The problem of limited emerging literacy…

Taking into account what research says about getting all children off to a better start in becoming literate, this booklet discusses recent "cutting-edge" research in the area of reading and spelling acquisition, focusing on the practical implications. The first part of the booklet notes what happens in the homes of early readers,…

A study examined the effectiveness of a project to increase reading readiness skills. The targeted population consisted of kindergarten students in a growing middle class community located in northern Illinois. The problems of lack of reading readiness were documented through teacher observation and district assessment tools. Analysis of probable…

This paper reviews the literature on the impact of technology on reading instruction, with a specific focus on language development as enhanced by the use of CD-Rom programs. The paper cites a study in which two separate groups, preschool children and third graders, were asked to talk about a story they listened to and saw on CD-Rom, providing…

Noting the continuing concern about reading standards, reading processes, and methods of teaching reading, this booklet reviews current research in reading. Sections of the booklet discuss: (1) research on reading processes; (2) how fluent readers recognize words; (3) what beginning readers need to know about language; (4) what beginning readers…

Defining literacy development as a continuous process that has its roots in the home, this training guide is intended to enhance the skills of Head Start staff in collaborating with families to support the development of children's language skills. The guide also describes the emerging literacy for children from birth through the preschool years.…

This guide describes "Parent Power," a program designed to help parents help their children become better readers. The guide makes such suggestions as pre-reading the book before reading it to children; reading about a variety of subjects; and showing children the importance of reading by parents reading and modeling the reading process…

This study offered a means of evaluating the long-term effects of the Beginning with Books gift packet program on literacy experiences provided by the family, on the children's literacy and language abilities, and on the skills of the children involved in the program as perceived by their kindergarten teachers. The program is a nonprofit…

This paper offers a description of the Ball-Stick-Bird reading system which has been used successfully to teach students with IQs as low as 20 to read with comprehension. A summary of research findings on this approach is presented as well as a discussion of these findings within a neurological/behavioral/evolutionary framework. A new theory of…

This paper examines the schooling achievement of children from bilingual homes and compares them to comparable samples of children from monolingual homes. Extensive follow-up data were gathered in 1985 on a sample of approximately 4,000 high school seniors who entered kindergarten in 1973 as part of a Kindergarten Reading Follow-up (KRF) program.…

Noting that conversation between adults and young children is a well-known stimulus to language development, but that conversation is seldom fully used in the classroom, this paper argues that conversations can and should be used more. It presents a range of research findings and classroom examples to support that argument. Chapter 1 examines the…

Reading is an area of the curriculum that contains many opportunities for students to develop self-esteem. Three common procedures used in the classroom, however, are likely to threaten students' self-esteem: required oral reading; team selection and the aspect of competing and declaring winners and losers; and question and answer procedures.…

The inclusion of talk, written language, and body language are critically important in primary classrooms. Although reading and writing may be regarded as cognitive activities, they are embedded in a social/cultural milieu, and the practice of mechanical decoding as a necessary precedent to real reading is not pedagogically sound. A whole class…

A specialized word attack skills program was designed to increase the reading ability of a target group of seven first grade students. These youngsters, placed in an average ability classroom, were performing below county standards. The program utilized learning centers, computers, and visual-auditory activities as motivational techniques.…