This paper describes a system for Choctaw orthography and discusses the principles and rules that can be used to govern the spelling system for the language. The orthography system is based on a study of documents written by comtemporary Chocktaws. The system proposed here seeks to be as accurate a representation of the spoken language as possible…

This volume of working papers includes eight papers dealing mainly with experimental topics in linguistics and in phonology and speech. The following articles are in the collection: "Units in Speech Perception,""The Temporal Realization of Morphological and Syntactic Boundaries,""Comparison of Controlled and Uncontrolled Normal Speech Rate,""Word…

This study was an action research project designed to improve students' reading comprehension. Students in the targeted kindergarten, second, and third grade classes exhibited a lack of reading comprehension, which interfered with their academic achievement. Data was collected by student and parent surveys, observations, and document analysis.…

Kindergarten is a time for playful and enriching learning activities that support children's literacy emergence while enhancing their social and cognitive development. The routines of a busy, engaged, productive kindergarten classroom are vividly brought to life in this information-packed book. Demonstrated are whole-class and small group…

This inservice professional development module, part of the Alabama Reading Initiative, presents research summaries, notes for presenters, and activities. The Phonemic Awareness and Phonics module clarifies that skilled readers are accurate and automatic decoders (i.e., they have the alphabetic principle). Phonics instruction must empower all…

Using the terms "literacy" and "reading" interchangeably, this monograph is intended to provide a research baseline for teachers, policymakers, decisionmakers and other interested persons to consider in helping all children meet today's higher literacy standards. The introductory section of the monograph presents a statement of purpose and…

This booklet presents many examples of instructional activities that occur on a daily basis on the campuses of Spotlight Schools, schools identified by the Texas Education Agency as having student populations that reflect a diversity of ethnicity and socioeconomic backgrounds, and demonstrate that essentially all children can become readers. It is…

The ability to read is critical for a child's future learning, and it opens the doors to social and economic advancement. Unfortunately, 17% to 20% of children in the United States encounter significant difficulties in learning to read. Although not all reading disabilities can be traced to obvious risk factors, such difficulties occur in…

A study examined the effectiveness of specific teaching strategies in the reading curriculum that would help underachieving first-grade students meet reading standards by the end of the school year. Subjects, 6 underachieving students, were given the Basic Phonics Skills Test (BPST), the Results high frequency word list, and the Results reading…

Focusing on the early phases of writing and having special relevance to prekindergarten through grade 2 teachers, this book shows how teachers can use interactive writing to teach a range of foundational literacy skills by sharing the pen with young writers. Skill building includes: letter formation, letter names, phonemic awareness, spelling,…

A survey of 549 kindergarten and first grade teachers examined attitudes toward, and knowledge of, beginning reading practices that have been shown to prevent reading failure, including explicit instruction in phonemic awareness and word identification skills. Teachers generally had positive attitudes toward explicit reading approaches, especially…

The ability of a dynamic measure of phonemic awareness to predict progress in beginning reading was studied with 38 kindergartners. Results support the utility of the developed measures and demonstrate the applicability of the principles of dynamic assessment to the measurement of phonemic awareness. (SLD)

Noting that reading instruction in the last years of the 20th century is still characterized by controversy, this book presents 18 essays that examine the best available research evidence about what is known--and what needs to be learned--about the teaching of reading and how children learn to read. Topics of the essays include whole language,…

Phoneme awareness, or the ability to recognize a spoken word as a sequence of individual sounds, is thought to be an essential prerequisite to successful literacy. A child-based phoneme awareness training program integrating children's experience and activities with sound awareness and print immersion was developed at a small urban elementary…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of increased phonemic awareness instruction on the writing ability of At Risk first graders. Twenty-three students from a suburban first grade classroom in Central New Jersey were involved in the study. Twelve at risk students were divided into two groups, each of which received one half hour of…