Reports a 3-year longitudinal study (grades 1 through 3) comparing (1) a basal reader program, (2) a phonics program, (3) a combination program of basal readers supplemented with phonics, and (4) a language arts approach using i/t/a. (MD)

Aspects of knowledge and motivation that are critical to becoming a strategic reader (one who uses strategies to aid comprehension) are examined. Learning to read strategically is related to children's cognitive development as well as to the social contexts of instruction. Suggestions are offered to promote children's use of strategic reading.…

Notes that brain research completed in recent years has shed light on the process of learning to read, then reviews that research and makes suggestions about what it means for instruction. (FL)

Concludes that instruction in aural cloze improved kindergarten children's ability to supply words deleted from a story read to them. (FL)

Three groups of kindergarten children received four training trials and a word-recognition test with 15 words in a beginning-reading task. The prompting-and-fading and the no-prompting groups performed similarly on word recognition after training and scored significantly higher than the prompting-only group. (Author)

Develomental patterns in the reading and aural skills of 45 preschool, kindergarten, and first grade children, were assessed. Children with increasing reading abilities were progressively more successful in their ability to segment words in both aural and visual contexts. (FG)

Groups of good and poor readers were tested on free recall of 10-word lists. The poor readers demonstrated as strong a recency effect as the good readers, but showed inferiority in immediate memory span. The results demonstrate a degree of dissociation between the recency effect and memory span. (Author/KC)

Reports on a study that examined the preferences of kindergarten children for upper or lower case letters. Concludes that preference for letters may result from the development of an aesthetic sense. (FL)

Details a study showing that for young children, proactive semantic cues were the most helpful in reading. Reveals also that the children made miscues displaying semantic associations across cue types. (FL)

Argues that the language experience approach to the teaching of beginning reading not only makes use of the valuable resource of children's speaking, but also cultivates their metalinguistic ability and eases their transition between two very different forms of language. (FL)

Discusses the insights into learning to read derived from studying a foreign language later in life. Compares some phenomena of foreign language learning to similar reading phenomena observed in primary grade classrooms. (HTH)

Uses a naturalistic setting to explore the effects of word-recognition instruction by a context method and a word-alone method to find out if mode of assessment plays a part in determining efficiency of methods. (HOD)

Notes that little research has been undertaken into the effects of anthropomorphism on children's reading and presents questions concerning the use of this device in beginning reading materials. (FL)