In teacher training curricula, books are presented as an ideal material for building and enriching young children's language. Yet, the routine of reading at home with children is hardly ever mentioned. In this chapter, the author proposes analyses of story-reading activities from a usage-based and first language acquisition perspective. The goal…

We examine metonymy at psycho- and neurolinguistic levels, seeking to adjudicate between two possible processing implementations (one- vs. two-mechanism). We compare highly conventionalized "systematic metonymy" (producer-for-product: "All freshmen read 'O'Connell'") to lesser-conventionalized "circumstantial…

Social skill deficits and learning disabilities often coexist. Academic work is negatively impacted by students' lack of social skills. Remediation of these deficits in pull-out programs has not generally resulted in transfer to real-world settings. Embedding social skills instruction within literature during a read-aloud session taught in the…

Presents an example of one five-year-old child's efforts to learn to read. Concludes that teachers can make learning to read easier by knowing the interests of their students and by providing them with books and other materials that stimulate those interests. (FL)

Researchers in the field of emergent literacy have been watching young children and find that they have a natural interest in print. Many researchers have documented stages of writing and spelling and have illustrated that children can learn to read and write as naturally as they can learn to speak, given an appropriate print environment. Writing…

Since 1987, the school district of West Allis-West Milwaukee (Wisconsin) has reviewed and revised its elementary reading program based on the philosophy that spoken, read, and written language must flow naturally from the child, be used in meaningful ways to communicate real needs, and involve tradebooks. Numerous inservice presentations and…

The Common Core State Standards represent an ambitious effort to improve teaching and learning at an unprecedented scale. Adopted by 45 states and the District of Columbia, these standards are an attempt to dramatically change what students and teachers do in school, by redefining high-level, thought-provoking instruction as the norm for all…

Compares the stages of print awareness in two children to emphasize the developmental stages of literacy. Emphasizes the importance of parents and teachers responding appropriately as children develop their reading and writing skills. (HTH)

Proponents of philosophy for children generally see themselves as heirs to the "Socratic" tradition. They often claim too that children's aptitude for play leads them naturally to play with abstract, philosophical ideas. However in Plato's dialogues we find in the mouth of "Socrates" many warnings against philosophising with the young. Those…

In this response to Sakurai, Meredith Stephens agrees that Sakurai (2015) raises an important issue of which native English speaking teachers may be unaware; Japanese learners of English typically translate into Japanese while reading English. Sakurai explained, "It is speculated that Japanese students naturally translate English into…

As one reads about the history of humans, he/she sees very early on that humans are naturally "tool users." More specifically, humans used tools as a means of subsistence and survival. Even today humans use tools to extend their capabilities beyond imagination. These tools are even used as weapons. However primitive, these early weapons would soon…

Most of us have read Dale Carnegie's classic "How to make friends and influence people" in which he reveals the secret of human psychology: giving people the "feeling of importance" that they seek. He claims in that work that people feel more friendly toward those who allows them this feeling by caring about them and showing…

Discusses research and instances of children learning to read and or write in the home without formal instruction, tracing the development of such natural literacy. Argues that literacy is primarily a social process, involving both teaching and learning. (HTH)

The language development of one child was examined from birth to three years of age in order to map the similarities and differences in the acquisition of oral language, reading, and writing skills. The study also sought to provide insight into why learning to read and write are not as naturally easy as learning to talk. Data were collected by…

Reflecting current themes that researchers, by their selective attention, have indicated are important in the field of reading/language processing and instruction, this yearbook presents a collection of 51 selected research articles from the National Reading Conference for 1983. Included are the following articles, listed with their authors: (1)…