Background: It is widely recognized that effective interventions for poor reading involve training in phoneme awareness and letter-sound knowledge, linked in the context of reading books. From the applied perspective, it is important to gather data on the effectiveness of different forms of implementation of literacy support within this framework.…

This review focuses on areas of converging evidence concerning the importance of phonological awareness and the corresponding curricular and instructional implications for diverse learners. Five areas of converging evidence are identified: (1) phonological processing ability explains significant differences between good and poor readers; (2)…

Creating a learning and instructional environment for teaching students in a "humane and efficient" manner, this book is designed to empower teachers by providing them with specific suggestions for problems they will encounter as they provide students with direct, explicit instruction in reading. As in earlier editions, the book devotes…

Giving teachers who are developing a literature-based program a place to start, this book provides a range of techniques, ideas, and strategies for the classroom. The book is intended for all teachers and parents interested in the role that literature can play in learning to read. The book addresses three main topics: the power of literature in…

A study examined the reading achievement of students who attended preschool. Subjects for the study were 2 groups of 30 African American students, randomly selected from 120 second-grade students in a Chicago area public school, 48 of whom had attended preschool and 72 who had not. Results from the 1995 Iowa Tests of Basic Skills reading subtest…

This report describes a program to improve reading and language arts skills. The targeted population consisted of students in 2 first grade classrooms (average class size 25) from a midwestern elementary school in a predominantly white, middle to upper-middle class neighborhood. Data documenting the problem was obtained from the previous year's…

A qualitative study examined and compared the theoretical basis of a remedial curriculum program designed for beginning readers with the espoused theory of the teacher chosen to lead the program's implementation. Visits to the elementary school (located in a town which adjoins a military base), document reviews, classroom observations, and…

This paper presents findings from a longitudinal study of reading comprehension development that reveal that there is a negative relation between the amount of time kindergarten teachers spend reading to kindergarten children and the children's reading achievement. The amount of time first-grade teachers spent reading to their students was…

Presenting a year-by-year account, this paper describes the origin and 10-year development of the Howard Street Tutoring Program, an after-school volunteer-staffed tutoring program in a poor Chicago, Illinois, neighborhood. The paper presents a selective history of the program, designed to assist second- and third-grade children who needed help in…

This report focuses on the processes of learning to read and write in the initial phases. Two studies are presented. The first is a review of four theoretical approaches, including Jerome Bruner's representation theory, and theories of concept learning, metacognition, and metalinguistic awareness. The purpose of the literature study was to examine…

A study examined the effects of adult-interactive behaviors during repeated storybook readings upon the language development and selected prereading skills of prekindergarten at-risk students. A total of 53 inner city, low socioeconomic status subjects participated in the 20-week study. Subjects were dichotomized at the median on a measure of…

Based on a two-day presentation workshop on early reading and writing approaches, the 12 essays in this book discuss the development of literacy, natural approaches in developing literacy, and supporting literacy development. Essays in the book are: (1) "Theories of Natural Language" (Carolyn N. Hedley); (2) "Oral Language…

A study examined the development of phonemic awareness and its relationship to beginning reading among 20 first-grade children at risk for failing to learn to read and write. Their instructional programs were observed; their levels of reading, writing, and phonemic awareness development were measured in October and April; and their home literacy…

Providing a developmental perspective of literacy learning as a way to understand the literacy process, this book describes how children become skilled readers through the following five stages of the literacy growth process: emergent reading, initial reading, transitional, basic literacy, and refinement. Unlike most other literacy books which are…

This manual is intended to assist school personnel in their efforts to initiate effective reading tutoring programs to help children in the early grades (generally, grades K-3) who lack the literacy skills required to be successful students. This manual can be used by program coordinators to help volunteer tutors who may not have had formal…