Research on an experimental application in classroom settings of a new method for the teaching of reading, the Ball-Stick-Bird method, is described in this report. The Ball-Stick-Bird method is a code-emphasis approach developed by Rene Fuller. In this system, each letter of the alphabet is taught on the basis of its distinctive features. Capital…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a meaning-emphasis or a code-emphasis method of teaching beginning reading to first-grade children was most efficacious. The following procedures were employed: establishment of a workable definition of the reading process, development of an experimental design in which the control of natural…

The findings of a 3-year longitudinal research study to investigate predictive instruments for beginning reading achievement are reported. The original sample consisted of 300 kindergarten children from three socioeconomic attendance areas in the Cheyenne, Wyoming, public schools. For the final evaluation at the end of grade 2, only those pupils…

Three recent developments discussed were representative of some of the modern trends in the language-experience approach. The first stressed the increased use of multisensory materials which have expanded the chances for success of many language-limited children. The second trend focused on the extended use of learning centers to provide them with…

After a discussion of the code-emphasis versus phonics-emphasis controversy, strategies for improving the teaching of decoding skills are presented. It is recommended (1) that only those phonic generalizations that are of high utility be taught, and revisions of phonics generalizations be made to make them even more inclusive and useful; (2) that…

To determine if children who have been taught to read using the i.t.a. would write stories with a vocabulary more nearly approaching the variety and extent of their oral vocabulary than would children who had been taught traditional orthography (T.O.), comparisons were made between 82 experimental (i.t.a.) and 80 control (T.O.) subjects matched on…

The Cooperative Reading Project was a 2-year study designed to test the effectiveness of three initial reading approaches and an oral language stimulation program with inner-city Southern disadvantaged children. This followup study looked for differences among the treatment groups after pupils had completed their third school year. The 354…

The third edition of a text originally written by Tinker in 1952 and revised with McCullough in 1962 presents an overview of the nature and goals of reading, of the bases for and factors related to reading programs, and of the practices recommended for reading instruction. In this edition greater attention is given to cognitive and linguistic…

The patterns of teacher-pupil interaction during first-grade reading instruction as a function of pupil sex were investigated. A total of 439 boys and girls and 71 teachers comprised the sample. The study involved three major phases: measurement of teacher attitudes, classroom observation of teacher-pupil interaction, and measurement of pupils'…

The effects of four language units to teach inner-city children to read words and syllables were compared using 86 children from 4 kindergarten classes in an Oakland, California, elementary school. The language units and beginning reader approaches utilizing them were: the grapheme/phoneme (synthetic), the morpheme (similar spelling pattern), the…

A series of lessons designed to explain what the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) is and to prepare prospective teachers of i.t.a. materials and methods as thoroughly as possible is presented. The eight lessons of the course, for each of which a separate booklet is provided, include the following: (1) The difficulties of traditional orthography…

Two topics related to teaching reading are presented. The first reports findings of research on the initial teaching alphabet (i.t.a.). Between September, 1961, and April, 1963, four- and five-year-old children were introduced to the new medium in six termly intakes. Data on the first three groups to enter are reported. After 1 year of being…

This study investigated the effect of black dialect upon the comprehension of standard reading material by using 50 third-grade students. A sentence repetition test was administered individually to each subject to select pupils for either the standard or the dialect group. Subjects were tested for oral comprehension and silent reading…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of specific instructional strategies in listening upon the reading comprehension of first grade pupils. Listening instruction was hypothesized to positively affect reading comprehension. Eighteen first grade classrooms were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: (1) specific listening…

As a reference for future teachers and for those already working in the field of early childhood education, this book presents information about young children's language development, emphasizing language as the primary basis for reading acquisition. In the first section of the book, language growth during preschool years is explored, with…