The Research

What About Teaching Reading With A Focus On Phonics?

• Phonemic Awareness: An Important Early Step in Learning To Read

  Author: Roger Sensenbaugh This Digest discusses the concept of the awareness that spoken language is made up of discrete sounds, why this concept is so important to early childhood educators, its relation to the debate on the best type of reading instruction, and finally, teaching methods that may help children in developing such an awareness.

• Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children

  National Academy Press, Reading Readiness

• Phonics and Structural Analysis

  Kathy Chen sits with a Big Book propped on one knee and seven of her first graders clustered on the floor in front of her. Pointing to each word, she reads, "...and he pulled the rabbit out of his..." She pauses and asks, "Who can tell me the next word?" Four voices shout, "Hat!" "Good," says Kathy. "Who can tell me why?" "It's in the picture," one student answers. "Yes, and what letter does hat begin with?" Kathy asks. "H!"

• NCTE Guidelines and Position Statements

  The guidelines and position statements published by NCTE present informed views on current and important issues in the profession.

• Study of Reading Methods Supports Phonics

  A grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) was recently awarded to Dr. Joe Torgeson, a professor of psychology and director of the Center for the Study of Reading and Reading Disabilities at Florida State University, to study the prevention and remediation of reading disabilities in children. He says that research reveals that phonemic awareness is the most potent predictor of success in learning to read. His definition of phonemic awareness "is the ability to notice, think about, or manipulate the individual sounds in words."

• The reading wars continue

  BY THOMAS TOCH In education there's no topic more important, or more contentious--than teaching students to read. A new book, Why Our Children Can't Read by University of South Florida psychologist Diane McGuinness, is sure to inflame the debate. It's also a book that illustrates why the reading wars are so difficult for parents and educators to sort out.

• Learning to Read: The Great Debate

  By Jeanne S Chall What is the best way to teach children to read? What are phonics and do they matter? When is the best time for children to learn the alphabet? All these questions and more are answered in this book.

• Whole Language vs. Phonics

• Do Parents Understand Your Reading Program Look, Mother. Look, Father. See Johnny Read!

  From the December 1996 Communicator by June Million, NAESP Director of Public Information.

• How Can Reading Be Improved?

  Teachers should be reintroduced to the use of systematic phonics to teach children to read.

• A War of Words: Whole Language Under Siege

  By Karen Diegmueller, Education Newsweek. "Why Are You Involved in This Loosey-Goosey Approach to Teaching Reading and Writing?" was billed as a discussion in which panelists would answer the critics of whole language, a meaning-centered philosophy and method of teaching language arts.

• #54. FIRST AID for phonics

• Sponsor: Phonics bill is flexible

  Seattle WA

• The Dangers of Whole Language

  What The Research Says James T.

• PHONICS: THE RIGHT WAY & THE WRONG WAY

  by Tracy Sherwood When you hear the term "PHONICS", you probably think it's one method of learning to read. The word "phonic" means 'speech sound'. The common denominator between various teaching methods is that they are all based on sounds, but the focus on sounds vary between phonics methods.

Research