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Full-Text Articles in Education

Literature-Based Reading Instruction: Problems, Possibilities & Polemics In The Struggle To Change, James V. Hoffman, Sarah J. Mccarthy, Judy A. Abbott, Debra Bayles, Bonnie Elliott, Angela Ferree, Debra Price Jan 1996

Literature-Based Reading Instruction: Problems, Possibilities & Polemics In The Struggle To Change, James V. Hoffman, Sarah J. Mccarthy, Judy A. Abbott, Debra Bayles, Bonnie Elliott, Angela Ferree, Debra Price

Faculty Publications

Concerns are being raised in both professional literature as well as in the popular press regarding certain aspects of the literature-based movement. Here we report on findings from a longitudinal study of a group of first -grade teachers who have been attempting (with varying degrees of success)to introduce literature-based teaching strategies into their classrooms. We inspect the experiences of these teachers in relation to four areas of concern that have been raised regarding literature-based teaching: 1. skills instruction; 2.guided reading strategies; 3. literature selection;and 4. thematic teaching (or curriculum integration). We describe classroom practices and the 9 problems and possibilities …


Reading Instruction In First-Grade Classrooms: Do Basals Control Teachers?, James V. Hoffman, Sarah J. Mccarthey, Debra Bayles, Debra Price, Bonnie Elliott, Mark Dressman, Judy Abbott Jan 1995

Reading Instruction In First-Grade Classrooms: Do Basals Control Teachers?, James V. Hoffman, Sarah J. Mccarthey, Debra Bayles, Debra Price, Bonnie Elliott, Mark Dressman, Judy Abbott

Faculty Publications

This study describes first-grade teachers beliefs and practices about reading instruction. Drawing from interview and observational data, 16 teachers from four districts were placed on a continuum from skills-based to literature-based in relationship to their use of the basal. Only 2 teachers were found to rely solely on the basal, while 3 teachers enhanced the basal with literature, and 4 teachers used only literature in their reading instruction. Six teachers enhanced their basal use with additional skills and 1 teacher relied on skills only in her reading instruction. This diversity' of teaching beliefs and practices was corroborated by questionnaire data …


So What's New In The New Basals? A Focus On First Grade, James V. Hoffman, Sarah J. Mccarthey, Judy A. Abbott, Cheryl Christian, Laura Corman, Catherine Curry, Mark Dressman, Bonnie Elliot, Debra Maherne, Debra Stahle Jan 1994

So What's New In The New Basals? A Focus On First Grade, James V. Hoffman, Sarah J. Mccarthey, Judy A. Abbott, Cheryl Christian, Laura Corman, Catherine Curry, Mark Dressman, Bonnie Elliot, Debra Maherne, Debra Stahle

Faculty Publications

The authors examine the first grade materials in five new basal programs submitted for the 1993 Texas state adoption. These series are compared with program materials currently in use in the state (Copyright 1986/1987). The analysis focuses on features of the pupil texts(e.g., total number of words, number of unique words, readability levels, literary quality) and features of the teachers' editions (e.g., program design, organization, tone). Results of the analysis indicate substantial changes in the more recent series.The findings are interpreted in terms of historical trends as well as recent developments in the literature-based and whole language movements.Implications for future …


Reading, Understanding, Remembering And Using Information In Written Science Materials., Larry Yore, James Shymansky Apr 1985

Reading, Understanding, Remembering And Using Information In Written Science Materials., Larry Yore, James Shymansky

Educator Preparation & Leadership Faculty Works

With traditional science textbooks still dominating the market, it is projected that the use of print material and related reading skills will persist as the prime method of science instruction. The need to research reading-science issues exists. This paper attempts to define the task or desired outcomes of research in reading-science dimensions. Areas developed in this paper include: (1) science reading and comprehension; (2) theories of the reading process (illustrated by models); (3) research in science reading (presented by grade level, subject matter, and curricular programs); (4) reading comprehension and science achievement (emphasizing text structure); and (5) research trends and …


Story Structure And Age Effects On Children's Ability To Sequence Stories, E. Mcclure, J. Mason, J. Barnitz May 1979

Story Structure And Age Effects On Children's Ability To Sequence Stories, E. Mcclure, J. Mason, J. Barnitz

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications

To investigate the strategies children use in comprehending written stories, third, sixth, and ninth grade students were given scrambled six-sentence stories and asked to reorder them. Three versions of each of six stories were created. The first version was the canonical form of the story predicted by story grammar rules; the second version began with a sentence which questioned the conclusion of the canonical form; and in the third this conclusion began the story. Significant effects of grade and structure indicated that the canonical form was more easily ordered than were the other structures, and also that third grade students …


Reading Comprehension Of Pronoun-Referent Structures By Children In Grades Two, Four, And Six., J G. Barnitz Mar 1979

Reading Comprehension Of Pronoun-Referent Structures By Children In Grades Two, Four, And Six., J G. Barnitz

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications

A study of 191 native English speaking working class children in grades two, four, and six was undertaken to investigate the development of reading comprehension of selected pronoun-referent structures. Three linguistic comparisons were made: referent type, reference order, and referent distance. Target sentences were constructed with these features and were embedded into short passages, each followed by questions based on the target structure. It was found that noun phrase pronominal structures were easier to comprehend than sentential pronominals, structures with forward reference were easier to comprehend than those with backward reference, and there was no significant difference between inter-sentential structures …


Interrelationship Of Orthography And Phonological Structure In Learning To Read, J. G. Barnitz Jan 1978

Interrelationship Of Orthography And Phonological Structure In Learning To Read, J. G. Barnitz

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications

Literature related to orthography, phonology, and reading is reviewed and synthesized in order to develop a rationale for a "goodness of fit" hypothesis. This hypothesis asserts that a writing system which is more consistently fit to the phonological structure of a particular language is more likely to facilitate learning to read. Conversely, a language whose writing system is less consistent or more abstract is likely to lead to more difficulty for the child learning to read. This claim is examined in the context of studies on various writing systems, cross-cultural and bilingual research, history of the language, and studies on …