Most children learn to read, irrespective of the method of instruction. Yet up to a fifth of children struggle with reading in their first few years at school. Unfortunately, those who struggle in the early years will continue to struggle throughout their school career. Yola Center offers a systematic, research-based guide to teaching reading in the first three years of school. Her aim is to ensure that teachers can work with at-risk or reluctant readers in the regular classroom as effectively as with children for whom reading seems to come naturally. Taking an analytic approach to reading, Beginning Reading shows how children can be moved through the key stages of early reading acquisition. Each chapter includes an overview of relevant research, practical classroom strategies and guidelines for lesson planning. Center adopts a balanced view of reading instruction, stressing the importance of phonological processes at the beginning of literacy instruction, as well as semantic and syntactic ones. This supports at risk children in regular classrooms, who are provided with the maximum opportunity to develop the accurate and fluent word recognition skills that are needed in order to extract meaning from print. 'At last! A book that combines an overview of recent research findings and their implications for the teaching of reading with sensible and practical suggestions for classroom teachers.' Morag Stuart, Professor in the Psychology of Reading, University of London 'This is an excellent book. It comprehensively reviews the research literature and shows how to apply it to the nuts and bolts of teaching reading in the first few years of school. It is a must-read for teachers.' Professor Tom Nicholson, University of Auckland, New Zealand 'This is the book that we have all been waiting for. It is the only book that I have seen that focuses on a theoretically sound approach to the teaching of reading with a focus on children who experience difficulties in the regular classroom.' Ruth Fielding-Barnsley, Queensland University of Technology 'It is indeed rare when a reading scientist can explain the intricacies of reading development, reading difficulties, and reading instruction with such clarity and comprehensiveness. Most importantly, Dr Center provides a masterful synthesis of the most current converging scientific evidence available that defines what research-based reading instruction is all about.' G. Reid Lyon, PhD, National Institutes of Health, USA

Calling attention to the continuum of approaches reflected in beginning reading programs, this report presents content and cost analyses for over 50 beginning reading programs. The first of the report's five chapters is an introduction. The second chapter begins with a brief description of the major issues in the area of beginning reading and concludes with a summary of important research-based recommendations for instruction. The third chapter outlines the evaluation criteria for a content analysis of the programs and provides operational definitions of evaluation criteria. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the extent to which over 50 instructional programs and approaches reflect research in beginning reading. The fourth chapter presents a cost analysis of each program evaluated and a description of how the cost analysis was determined. The final chapter contains some conclusions and cautions about selecting and designing effective reading instructional programs. (RS)

In this essay collection, scholars in the area of early literacy provide concrete strategies for achieving excellence in literacy instruction. The collection presents current, research-based information on the advances and refinements in the area of emerging literacy and the early stages of formal instruction in reading and writing. Following a foreword (Alan Farstrup) and an introduction (Dorothy S. Strickland and Lesley Mandel Morrow), chapters in the collection are: (1) "Beginning Reading and Writing: Perspectives on Instruction" (William H. Teale and Junko Yokota); (2) "Becoming a Reader: A Developmentally Appropriate Approach" (Susan B. Neuman and Sue Bredekamp); (3) "Literacy Instruction for Young Children of Diverse Backgrounds" (Kathryn H. Au); (4) "Enhancing Literacy Growth through Home-School Connections" (Diana H. Tracey); (5) "Children's Pretend Play and Literacy" (Anthony D. Pellegrini and Lee Galda); (6) "Talking Their Way into Print: English Language Learners in a Prekindergarten Classroom" (Celia Genishi, Donna Yung-Chan, and Susan Stires); (7) "Organizing and Managing a Language Arts Block" (Lesley Mandel Morrow); (8) "Classroom Intervention Strategies: Supporting the Literacy Development of Young Learners at Risk" (Dorothy S. Strickland); (9) "Teaching Young Children to Be Writers" (Karen Bromley); (10) "Phonics Instruction" (Margaret Moustafa); (11) "Reading Aloud from Culturally Diverse Literature" (Lee Galda and Bernice E. Cullinan); (12) "Fostering Reading Comprehension" (Linda B. Gambrell and Ann Dromsky); (13) "Assessing Reading and Writing in the Early Years" (Bill Harp and Jo Ann Brewer); (14) "Sign of the Times: Technology and Early Literacy Learning" (Shelley B. Wepner and Lucinda C. Ray); and (15) "Still Standing: Timeless Strategies for Teaching the Language Arts" (Diane Lapp, James Flood, and Nancy Roser). (NKA)

In this practical guide to teaching beginning language learners of all ages, Calhoun encourages us to begin where the learners begin--with their developed listening and speaking vocabularies and other accumulated knowledge about the world. Engage students in shaking words out of a picture--words from their speaking vocabularies--to begin the process of building their reading and writing skills. Use the picture word inductive model (PWIM) to teach several skills simultaneously, beginning with the mechanics of forming letters to hearing and identifying the phonetic components of language, to classifying words and sentences, through forming paragraphs and stories based on observation. Built into the PWIM is the structure required to assess the needs and understandings of your students immediately, adjust the lesson in response, and to use explicit instruction and inductive activities. Individual, small-group, and large-group activities are inherent to the model and flow naturally as the teacher arranges instruction according to the 10 steps of the PWIM. Students and teachers move through the model and work on developing skills and abilities in reading, writing, listening, and comprehension as tools for thinking, learning, and sharing ideas. Note: This product listing is for the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version of the book.

Shortcuts to Beginning Reading borrows the strong points from many popular teaching methods to build reading "fluency"--that point where the reader is reading at a level where he or she recognizes words quickly without having to stop and decode them. Once fluency is established, other comprehension-building and language arts strategies can be added to provide greater challenges and to build more advanced reading skills. Methods are listed alphabetically and are described in detail, so that they can be readily incorporated into any reading program. This description includes the rationale for the method and an explanation of the circumstances under which the method is best used. Also included is information about additional materials--including computer software--that can be used to supplement more traditional learning materials. Based on the author's over 30 years of experience in working with students of all ages and all levels of ability, Shortcuts to Beginning Reading is a valuable resource for anyone who works with beginning readers.

Created by a teacher, Bob Books have been helping children learn to read for more than forty years! This phonics-based set is perfect for kids who need practice at a very beginning reading level. Bob Books More Beginning Readers gives early readers more support with beginning phonics skills, reinforcing what they learned in Bob Books Beginning Readers. This set can also be read on its own by any child just learning to read. The silly stories use three-letter words, short sentences, and plenty of repetition to keep the text simple and decodable, helping kids become comfortable and confident with basic reading! In this collection you'll find: 12 small, hilarious, easy-to-read stories: 12 pages each, 8-25 unique words per story A parent guide with tips for helping your child learn to read Each story includes: Decodable text: Three-letter words with short vowels that can be sounded out (cat, bag, fox, bed) Very simple sentences (Sam can pat.) Very limited sight words (a, go, the) Friendly, simple illustrations that add fun and do not distract from the words Guided Reading Levels: C, D | Lexile® Measure: BR10L - 90L | Bob Books Level: Stage 1Ages: 4-6 | Grade Levels: PreK, Kindergarten Bob Books' phonics-based method aligns with the body of research known as the Science of Reading, which proves that systematic phonics instruction is crucial to children's reading success. With simple phonics, playful stories, and silly illustrations, Bob Books keep young readers' confidence high, leading to continued success and a love of reading. Your child will soon join the millions of happy kids who say, "I read the whole book!"®

First published in 1979. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.