Teaching Our Children to Read

This book, intended as a resource for educators, administrators, policymakers, and parents concerned about how to successfully teach children to read, points the way to implementing the best research-based practices in adopting reading materials, training teachers, and providing the necessary school leadership. Studies of effective teaching practices have continued to validate the need for explicit and systematic instruction in basic reading skills, and the book uses this research to shed new light on how to help all students become fluent readers. The book's second edition grew out of the experiences of scores of dedicated teachers and their success in the classroom. Highlights of new and expanded material in this second edition include: important current research from leading experts in the field; new instructional strategies that bring all students to higher levels of literacy; and expanded sections on phonics instruction and fluency; connected practice with decodable text; multisyllabic word instruction; spelling, vocabulary, and concept development; strategic reading, book discussions, and text organization; and literacy benchmarks, assessment, and intervention. New tables with sound/spelling correspondences and percentages are provided in Resource A, and revisions to the major points discussed are offered in Resource B. (Contains notes for each chapter, an extensive list of references, and a suggested reading list.) (NKA)