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The first of two-volumes which aims to provide an international perspective on how children learn to read, featuring research and classroom experiences from around the world. This title is concerned with fostering an improved understanding of the nature of children's early reading development.
This book sets out to integrate recent exciting research on the precursors of reading and early reading strategies adopted by children in the classroom. It aims to develop a theory about why early phonological skills are crucial in learning to read, and shows how phonological knowledge about rhymes and other units of sound helps children learn about letter sequences when beginning to be taught to read. The authors begin by contrasting theories which suggest that children's phonological awareness is a result of the experience of learning to read and those that suggest that phonological awareness precedes, and is a causal determinant of, reading. The authors argue for a version of the second kind of theory and show that children are aware of speech units, called onset and rime, before they learn to read and spell. An important part of the argument is that children make analogies and inferences about these letter sequences in order to read and write new words.
Literacy research has continued to develop at a rapid pace in these last five years of the millennium. New ideas about how children learn to read have led to a better understanding of the causes of progress and failure in the mastery of literacy, with repercussions for children's assessment and teacher education. These new discoveries also allow teachers to transcend the old debates in reading instruction (phonics versus whole language) and offer the path to a synthesis. At the same time, research with teachers about their own implementation of methods and the development of their own knowledge about the teaching of literacy has produced a fresh analysis of the practice of literacy teaching. Inspired by these developments, teachers, teacher educators and researchers worked together to produce this volume, which promotes the integration of literacy research and practice.
How does a young child begin to make sense out of squiggles on a page? Is learning to read a process of extending already acquired language abilities to print? What comprises this extension? How children learn to read, and especially how children are taught to read, are problems of sustained scientific interest and enduring pedagogical controversy. This volume presents conceptual and theoretical analyses of learning to read, research on the very beginning processes of learning to read, as well as research on phonological abilities and on children who have problems learning to read. In so doing, it reflects the important discovery that learning to read requires mastering the system by which print encodes the language. The editors hope that some of the work offered in this text will influence future research questions and will make a difference in the way instructional issues are formulated.
Foreword by Colby Sharp In the decade since the first edition of Still Learning to Read was published, the prevalence of testing and the Common Core State Standards have changed what is expected of both teachers and students. The new edition of Still Learning to Read focuses on the needs of students in grades 3-6 in all aspects of reading workshop, including reading workshop, read-aloud, classroom design, digital tools, fiction, nonfiction, and close reading. The book stays true to its original beliefs of slowing down and knowing our readers, but it also takes into account the sense of urgency that changing times and standards impose on classrooms. This edition examines current trends in literacy, includes a new section on intentional instructional planning, and provides expanded examples of mini-lessons and routines that promote deeper thinking about learning. It also includes a brand new chapter on scaffolding for reading nonfiction and showcases the authors' latest thinking on close reading and text complexity. Online videos provide glimpses into classrooms as students make book choices, work in small groups, and discuss their reading notebooks. Expanded and updated book lists, recommendations for digital tools, lesson cycles, and sections specifically written for school leaders round out this foundational resource.
Learn to Read. Book for Beginning Readers. Preschool, Kindergarten, and 1st Grade (Step into Reading. Level 1) We offer the easiest way to make reading books with children a pleasure, even for those children who listen to reading reluctantly. With the usual type of reading, a child is a passive listener, while with “reading by picture”, he or she becomes an active participant. Even if children can already read, they are happy to read texts where some of the words are replaced by pictures and perceive it as a bonus or a prize. It is more important to receive such bonuses for children who are just starting to read, or for whom reading still requires effort. A small child can only voice words represented by pictures. This "reading" not only makes kids a full participant in the process but also teaches them to reconcile the words of the picture with other words in the sentence. Older children may try to read words from a vocabulary list that appears before the text. A child who has begun to read will be able to enjoy reading the entire text. If you are reading to your little one, please read slowly. Let your child think about the sentence, find the right word, and enjoy the reading process. Some words in this book are changed to pictures. Each story has a pictured vocabulary list at the beginning. Includes 7 simple stories understandable and relatable for kids. Great book for non-English speaking children to learn and remember new words in a fun game-based reading activity.
Learning to Read in American Schools examines critical research that offers direct implications for the design and/or evaluation of text materials used in our schools today. In so doing, it addresses issues regarding the quality of text materials, and contains specific recommendations for the improvement of reading comprehension and instruction. Timely, clearly written, and jargon-free, this text is an essential handbook for school administrators, reading specialists, teachers in professional development programs, trainers of teachers, and curriculum developers. It should have a profound impact on how reading is taught in American schools.
Around the world, children embark on learning to read in their home language or writing system. But does their specific language, and how it is written, make a difference to how they learn? How is learning to read English similar to or different from learning in other languages? Is reading alphabetic writing a different challenge from reading syllabic or logographic writing? Learning to Read across Languages and Writing Systems examines these questions across seventeen languages representing the world's different major writing systems. Each chapter highlights the key features of a specific language, exploring research on learning to read, spell, and comprehend it, and on implications for education. The editors' introduction describes the global spread of reading and provides a theoretical framework, including operating principles for learning to read. The editors' final chapter draws conclusions about cross-linguistic universal trends, and the challenges posed by specific languages and writing systems.
This book is a guide for parents who wish to raise children with more than one language and literacy. Drawing on interdisciplinary research, as well as the experiences of parents of multilingual children, this book walks parents through the multilingual reading and writing process from infancy to adolescence. It identifies essential literacy skills at each developmental stage and proposes effective strategies that facilitate multiliteracy, in particular, heritage-language literacy development in the home environment. This book can also be used as a reference for teachers who teach in community heritage language schools and in school heritage (or foreign) language programmes.
Catechism primers are inconspicuous but telling little books for children combining the teaching of reading skills and religious catechesis. From the 16th to the 19th centuries, they have been produced, disseminated and used in huge numbers in many regions of the world, in particular in Europe. Remarkably, similar texts appeared across the continent, spanning confessional traditions that were in other respects highly divergent. In different places, and across the whole period, different denominations used not only similar pedagogical and religious strategies, but also shared the same formats and iconography. This volume, edited by scholars from Finland, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, is the result of a collaborative transnational and interdisciplinary effort including education, language teaching, children’s literature, book history, and religious studies. With contributions on seventeen European countries and regions, it sheds new light on a fascinating but largely neglected part of European cultural heritage, and, by establishing a comprehensive and authoritative summary of the field, offers fresh impetus for further transnational research.
