A Balanced Approach To Beginning Reading Instruction

If you are an educator of young children, you're likely to have participated in the ongoing dialogue about the reading wars - the historical debate about the best way to teach reading. You can address some of the difficult issues at the center of these debates with this synthesis of more than 30 years of literacy research that provides compelling evidence for a balanced approach to beginning reading instruction. Author Cowen's discussion of six U.S. studies, from the 1967 First-Grade Studies to the 2000 National Reading Panel Report, makes the findings and conclusions of this vital research accessible and reader friendly to stakeholders in the early literacy community, enabling you to make more informed decisions about teaching reading to young children.

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

Best Seller. Eight units with 62 lessons, 63 kid-sized reproducible books, as well as letter and word cards, give teachers the tools to teach successful readers. Suggested materials for reading are included as well. ESL & Special Ed.

Beginning with braille provides a wealth of effective activities for promoting literacy at the early stages of braille instruction. The text includes creative and practical strategies for designing and delivering quality braille instruction and teacher-friendly suggestions for many areas such as reading aloud to young children, selecting and making early tactile books, and teaching tactile and hand movement skills. This book also includes tips on designing worksheets, introducing braille contractions, teaching the use of the braillewriter, and facilitating the writing process in braille. Chapters also address guidelines for individualizing instruction, the literacy needs of students with additional disabilities, and assessment of student progress in developing literacy skills.

A Balanced Approach to Literacy Instruction provides students with a strong background in using a balanced approach to literacy instruction. Using the National Standards for English Language Arts as a guide, the book calls for classroom teachers to become knowledgeable of and to master several literacy instructional practices, applying each when appropriate. A wide variety of literacy instructional practices are clearly presented. Theories are accompanied by practical, research-based ideas that students can use as they complete their field-based experiences and go out into their own classrooms. In addition to its in-depth coverage of phonics, comprehension, assessment, and vocabulary instructional strategies, A Balanced Approach to Literacy Instruction has wide coverage of technology and writing. Ways to meet the needs of diverse student populations are discussed throughout the book. Students also are provided with thorough lesson plans in reading, writing, and technology for them to consider using or adapting for their field based experiences.

All the tips and tools you need to realize the goal of balanced literacy learning. Students learn to read and write best when their teachers balance literacy instruction. Best-selling authors Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Nancy Akhavan help you strike the right balance of skills and knowledge, reading and writing, small and whole group instruction, and direct and dialogic instruction, so that all students can learn to their maximum potential. Using this essential guide, tap your intuition, collaborate with your peers, and put the research-based strategies embedded within to work in your classroom for a strong and successful balanced literacy program.

This widely adopted text and K-8 practitioner resource demonstrates how successful literacy teachers combine explicit skills instruction with an emphasis on reading for meaning. Distinguished researcher Richard L. Allington builds on the late Michael Pressley's work to explain the theories and findings that guide balanced teaching and illustrate what exemplary lessons look like in action. Detailed examples offer a window into highly motivating classrooms around the country. Comprehensive in scope, the book discusses specific ways to build word recognition, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, especially for readers who are struggling. New to This Edition *Updated throughout to reflect important recent research advances. *Chapter summing up the past century's reading debates and the growing acceptance of balanced teaching. *New and revised vignettes of exemplary teachers.