Personalized account of the interactions among a retired teacher of reading, her daughter, and grandson, in regard to the grandson's reading development. (SS)

A phonics advocate maintains that claims for results with the method called "assisted reading" or sentence reading are higher than can be expected. (MKM)

Using first- and second-grade students, this study examined the use of sentence contexts for word identification by beginning readers. (HOD)

This article describes a program in which beginning readers dictate stories to accompany wordless picture books. The stories are turned into classroom "published books" which are used to teach reading and develop student confidence. Step-by-step directions and a brief list of wordless picture books are provided. (CR)

Discusses an integrated theory of literacy development with synchrony between beginning stages of reading and spelling. Explores the reasons why beginning readers read disfluently, fingerpoint, and read aloud. Discusses orthographic correlates to these behaviors. Suggests that fluent reading must wait for a certain power in word knowledge.…

Two groups of grade school children were tested for their ability to use orthographic rimes as functional units of reading by reading pseudowords. The results suggest that the size of the orthographic rime frequency effect reflects the operation of two factors: vocabulary size and grapheme-phoneme conversion skill. (SW)

Examines relationships between levels of phonological awareness and early reading ability. Finds significant correlations between metaphonological abilities and reading for kindergarteners but weak or nonexistent correlations in the tasks involving sensitivity to phonological similarities for first graders. Notes that all children who developed…

Argues that flashcards can help beginning and struggling readers to identify high-frequency, irregularly spelled words. Describes various ways flashcards can be used to help make a poor reader a better reader. Argues that the key to success is to use flashcards sensibly, in small doses, for fun, and with pizzazz. (SR)

Determines the nature and role of knowledge constructed by the child at the very beginning of his or her contact with printed words, i.e., during the logographic phase. Indicates that the letters in a word serve as its identifying visual properties as long as, for the child, the sole function of the written language is to encode meaning. (SG)

Phonological awareness is one of several key precursor skills to conventional literacy that develop during the preschool period. Significant amounts of research support the causal and predictive relation between phonological awareness and children's ease of learning to decode and spell. However, many preschool curricula and early childhood…

Even though Finnish students continually score at the highest levels on international reading tests, little attention is given to Finland's reading education programs. Dismissing Finnish attainments often is based on the attitude that the Finnish language is simpler, due to a close one-to-one sound/symbol match and that Finland is an isolated…

This report is an evaluation of the "Read, Write & Type!"[TM] Learning System, a software program with supporting materials designed to teach beginning reading skills by emphasizing writing as a way to learn to read. The program was developed for six- to nine-year-old students who are just beginning to read and for students who are…

Kindergarten isn't what it used to be. No longer is kindergarten a place for learning the social skills needed for success at school and sprinkled with a few letters, numbers, shapes and sizes. Today, kindergartners are expected to head to first grade as beginning readers with basic skills in place to ensure their success in core content areas. To…

The ability to recognize letter patterns within words as a single unit is important for fluent reading. This skill is based on previously established memory representations of common letter patterns. The ability to form these memory representations may be impaired in some poor readers, particularly readers with naming speed deficits (NSD). This…

Sight word learning and memory were studied to clarify how early during development readers process visual letter patterns that are not dictated by phonology, and whether their word learning is influenced by the legality of letter patterns. Forty kindergartners and first graders were taught to read 12 words containing either single consonants…