A step-by-step program that shows parents, simply and clearly, how to teach their child to read in just 20 minutes a day.

Studies of effective teaching practices have continued to validate the need for explicit and systematic instruction in basic reading skills, and Bill Honig uses this research to shed new light on an old problem—how to help all students become fluent readers. Teaching Our Children to Read grows out of the experiences of scores of dedicated teachers and their success in the classroom. This book explores current research from the leading experts in the field, and presents new instructional strategies that bring all students to higher levels of literacy. Highlights from Teaching Our Children to Read include: • Phonics instruction and fluency • Connected practice with decodable text • Multisyllabic word instruction • Spelling, vocabulary, and concept development • Strategic reading, book discussions, and text organization • Literacy benchmarks, assessment, and intervention This is an essential resource for educators, administrators, policymakers, and parents concerned about how to successfully teach our children to read. Teaching Our Children to Read points the way to implementing the best research-based practices in adopting reading materials, training teachers, and providing the necessary school leadership.

This guide shows parents how to combine story reading, phonics, and writing to help their children develop into skilled and motivated readers. The guide discusses how to prepare children for reading success; how to use children's literature to promote learning and enjoyment; why combining book experiences and phonics is better than using either approach alone; ways to use writing to enhance children's reading progress; why reading aloud is important; and which books to use and where to find them. Chapters in the guide are: (1) "The 'Great Debate'"; (2) "Acquiring Language and Learning To Read"; (3) "Early Readers: What Can They Teach Us?"; (4) "What Works? One Successful Program"; (5) "Using 'Real Books' in Your Program"; (6) "Preparing for Formal Lessons"; (7) "Book Reading and Strategy Development"; (8) "Learning about Letters, Sounds, and Words"; (9) "Story Writing in the Reading Lesson"; and (10) "Putting It All Together: A Sample Lesson." Contains 79 references. Appendixes present a 600-item bibliography of children's trade books; a special note for Christian educators; and advice on establishing a tutoring project. (RS)

A plain-English guide to teaching phonics. Every parent can teach reading—no experts need apply! Too many parents watch their children struggle with early reading skills—and don't know how to help. Phonics programs are too often complicated, overpriced, gimmicky, and filled with obscure educationalese. The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading cuts through the confusion, giving parents a simple, direct, scripted guide to teaching reading—from short vowels through supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. This one book supplies parents with all the tools they need. Over the years of her teaching career, Jessie Wise has seen good reading instruction fall prey to trendy philosophies and political infighting. Now she has teamed with dynamic coauthor Sara Buffington to supply parents with a clear, direct phonics program—a program that gives them the know-how and confidence to take matters into their own hands.

For Elementary Reading Methods courses. This comprehensive and balanced look at literacy practice has long been one of the most popular reading methods texts available. The text begins by introducing seven principles for comprehensive reading instruction, and then explains the theoretical foundations of teaching reading. Part I builds on those foundations with specific methods in Part II, and then in Part III it describes how to create a variety of learning centers, and how to plan developmentally appropriate reading curriculum for students in both K-3 and 4-8 classrooms, chapters 12 and 13 provide a continuum of knowledge by describing classroon organization and curriculum for grades 4-6 and 6-8.

A new, interactive approach to storytime, The Whole Book Approach was developed in conjunction with the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and expert author Megan Dowd Lambert's graduate work in children's literature at Simmons College, offering a practical guide for reshaping storytime and getting kids to think with their eyes. Traditional storytime often offers a passive experience for kids, but the Whole Book approach asks the youngest of readers to ponder all aspects of a picture book and to use their critical thinking skills. Using classic examples, Megan asks kids to think about why the trim size of Ludwig Bemelman's Madeline is so generous, or why the typeset in David Wiesner's Caldecott winner,The Three Pigs, appears to twist around the page, or why books like Chris Van Allsburg's The Polar Express and Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar are printed landscape instead of portrait. The dynamic discussions that result from this shared reading style range from the profound to the hilarious and will inspire adults to make children's responses to text, art, and design an essential part of storytime.