Research conducted over the past 80 years is examined to answer three questions on sensory modality as it relates to reading. In the 18 studies reviewed which relate to the superiority of one modality over another, there was no consensus regarding the relative effectiveness of modalities among adults. The evidence leans toward greater…

Thirty-six nonreading children aged four and five years old participated in a study comparing the ease of learning words represented in traditional orthography (T.O.) and in three logographic systems: Carrier-Peak, Bliss, and Rebus. (The Carrier-Peak symbols, normally moveable abstract shapes, were converted to graphic form for the study.) The…

This pamphlet suggests methods of teaching beginning reading using word cards, stories written by a parent, and phonics games. Activities using word cards include writing the name of a person or object on the card and helping the child associate that card directly with the person or object. Stories written by parents usually feature the children…

From a 9,000-word lexicon, a set of spelling-to-sound correspondences was developed to systematically organize possible content for beginning reading instruction. With the aid of computer sorting procedures, correspondences and correspondence exemplars were sequenced according to criteria of productivity, regularity, generalizability, and…

The major goal of this study was to investigate first grade children's ability to use initial letter, middle letter, final letter and word configuration cues to recognize words in context. Subjects were forty-six children, 23 boys and 23 girls, from both first grade classes of a private school in suburban Philadelphia. Three letter words were…

These skill cards and answer cards were designed for open ended game boards but may be used with any open ended game to reinforce reading skills. There are twelve sets in the packet. Each set contains twenty skill cards and one answer card. The topics for the sets are: long vowel substitution, short vowel substitution, consonant digraph…

In a partial replication of Samuels' (1972) experiments, 60 first grade pupils were assigned to a letter name group, a letter discrimination group, or a control group to investigate the effect of letter name knowledge on learning to read words. Artificial letters formulated by Gibson, et al. (1962) were used instead of those of Samuels, and…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the unaided teacher is able to teach kindergarten children in remedial reading as well as the teacher who is aided by trained fifth- and sixth-grade tutors. Involved in the study were eight schools using the Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) First Year Communications Skills Program, which is…

Research on the Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.) is viewed from two aspects--its limitations and how it can be improved. Thus far research has indicated that (1) transition from i.t.a. to traditional orthography is not the problem expected and (2) the children who are taught with i.t.a. read no better or worse than children taught with the…

Designed for educable mentally handicapped students, the Functional Basic Reading Series is described in terms of a practical approach to reading. The four developmental stages of the sequential program are presented accompanied with specific titles of materials appropriate for each level. Characteristics of controlled vocabulary, social goals and…

Generalized views of the role of the elementary school in a democratic society and of the uniqueness of each student have implications for policy in improving elementary education. Owing to the youth of its clientele, the elementary school has an intense impact. No school so greatly affects so many Americans. It is a democratic institution…

Characteristics of language variety are identified, and language systems are viewed as having their own sympathetic patterns which are not deviant from but which are different from each other. The relationship of language variation to literacy is discussed, and matching beginning reading materials to the child's oral language is seen to facilitate…

Vocabulary studies conducted in this century are reviewed in this paper, with an emphasis on several recent investigations utilizing computer technology. The use of computers has greatly facilitated the ease and accuracy of word tabulation, but the lists are only as language-reflective as the sources from which they are derived. The great majority…

This pamphlet deals with the principle of systematizing traditional orthography (TO) to produce initial teaching media and the application of that principle in Initial Teaching Alphabet (i.t.a.). Part 1 discusses: three causes of failure in literacy, the need for systematizing TO for the better learning of literacy, TO research with infants,…

The stimulus properties of the letters b, d, p, and q were investigated in an attempt to demonstrate that the common reversal of these letters by beginning readers is in part determined by the vertical aspect of the stimulus figure. One hundred eighty kindergarteners were randomly selected from a racially mixed population and randomly assigned to…