Describes how kindergarten children use invented spelling to rewrite Mother Goose nursery rhymes, indicating the phoneme grapheme system the children perceived from spoken language. (HTH)

Boom! Br-r-ring! Cluck! Moo!--exciting sounds are everywhere. Whether visiting online sites that play sounds or taking a "sound hike," ask your students to notice the sounds they hear, then write their own book, using sound words, based on Dr. Seuss's "Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You?" During the three 45-minute sessions, grade K-2…

This paper explores the philosophical considerations involved in literacy. It explains that one concept that is emphasized in discussions of literacy is "the basics," which are defined as essential skills, such as the association of phonemes with graphemes. This paper notes that "the basics" movement presently stresses the…

Noting that reports by the National Research Council and the National Reading Panel show that children learn to read best if they are first provided with an understanding that sounds heard in spoken words correspond to letters seen in print, this issue of the "State Education Leader" newsletter explains that once this skill is acquired,…

This report describes a program for increasing phonemic awareness in the primary grades. The targeted population consisted of first and second grade students from middle class communities located in the Midwest. Research indicated that students who enter primary grades without phonemic awareness might have reading difficulties. Lack of phonemic…

Reports a study concluding that first grade children did not have strong preconceptions of letter-sound relationships when they entered school but their year-end responses were significantly more like adult responses. No differences were found between speakers of black English and white English. (TO)

Part of a special issue, "Materialien zur Rechtschreinbung und ihrer Reform" (Materials on Orthography and Its Reform). (DD)

Special issue on orthography. (DD)

Special issue on orthography. (DD)

Research supported by a grant to the senior author from the Australian Research Grants Committee. (DD)

Research supported by a Public Health Service grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences. (DD)

Research supported by grants to the University of Minnesota, Center for Research in Human Learning, from the National Science Foundation, the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, and the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota. (DD)

Discusses the advantages of the English-Unifon coding system and its five books for beginning reading instruction. (MM)