Involving parents in paired reading with preschoolers: Results from a randomized controlled trial

A paired reading program was implemented for 195 Hong Kong preschoolers (mean age = 4.7 years) and their parents from families with a wide range of family income. The preschoolers were randomly assigned to experimental or waitlist control groups. The parents in the experimental group received 12 sessions of school-based training on paired reading in 7 weeks. They were required to do paired reading with their children for at least four times in each of these 7 weeks. At the end of the program, the preschoolers in the experimental group had better performance in word recognition and reading fluency than their counterparts in the control group. They were also reported as more competent and motivated in reading by their parents. More importantly, the program had many favorable effects on parents. Parents in the experimental group had higher self-efficacy in helping their children to be better readers and learners. They also reported that they had better relationships with their children. Their changes in relationships and self-efficacy were found to mediate the program impact on some of the child outcomes. However, family income did not moderate the effectiveness of the program. Families with high and low income both benefited from the program alike.     

Children with motor coordination problems and learning disabilities in reading,spelling, writing and arithmetic

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted to investigate the incidence of motor coordination problems (clumsiness) among 10‐year‐old learning disabled children and to examine the characteristics of children with motor coordination problems. It was found that the strongest relationship between motor and learning problems seemed to exist in handwriting and arithmetic and the weakest in reading. With regard to the assignment to different subgroups based on deficient reading and spelling strategies, more clumsy children with dyslexic problems were classified in the ‘phonological’ and ‘mixed’ groups than in the ‘morphemic’ group. Our study also supports the heterogeneity of children labelled ‘clumsy’. The clumsy children varied widely in their characteristics and concomitant disabilities. No significant difference between the children with motor problems and a control group of ‘normal’ children was found when intelligence was accounted for.     

A computer-based spatial learning strategy approach that improves reading comprehension and writing

This article explores the effectiveness of a computer-based spatial learning strategy approach for improving reading comprehension and writing. In reading comprehension, students received scaffolded practice in translating passages into graphic organizers. In writing, students received scaffolded practice in planning to write by filling in graphic organizers and in translating them into passages. Based on a cluster-randomized sampling process, 2,468 students distributed in 12 schools and 69 classrooms participated in the study. Schools were randomly assigned to the computer-based instruction (CBI) group or traditional instruction (TI) group. Teachers assigned to the CBI treatment integrated the applications into the language arts curriculum during one school semester. A standardized test was used to measure reading comprehension and writing. The data were analyzed through a statistical multilevel model. The findings showed that students in the CBI group improved their reading and writing skills significantly more than students under TI—yielding an effect size d = 0.30.     

Namewriting: A step toward writing and reading

Teacher, I can read all the names on the locker, said Nikki, and to her teacher's amazement, she did. The teacher had expected this class of three year olds to learn to recognize their own names, but she hadn't forseen that some would learn all the other children's names as well.Sally Hruska, a former early education teacher, is a doctoral student at Michigan State University in Lansing. The teachers from Marquette-Alger Head Start provided many of the teaching ideas in this article.     

Knowledge, writing, and language outcomes for a reading comprehension and writing intervention

Many students struggle with gaining knowledge and writing about content text material and therefore require effective intervention. In a randomized controlled trial study, 77 low-achieving fourth-grade students received reading comprehension instruction or reading comprehension plus writing instruction or were assigned to a no-treatment control. Knowledge outcomes were evaluated through students’ retelling and performance on a standardized reading test. Written language-based outcomes were analyzed using a computer software program for semantic and syntactic measures. Analyses indicated that students in reading comprehension instruction and reading comprehension plus writing instruction outperformed the control group on oral and written retelling, a standardized reading test, and semantic measures. Syntactic measures, however, did not show statistically significant differences by treatment or control group. Implications for including language instruction and assessments within multi-component instruction are suggested.     

The montessori preschool: Preparation for writing and reading

Dr. Maria Montessori was a perceptive observer of the learning processes of children, and nowhere is this revealed more clearly than in her approach to language. She viewed reading as the ultimate abstraction of language rather than a specific skill to be taught. Decoding is the skill to be taught. The concept of indirect and direct preparation for learning is of major importance in the rich heritage she gave us. She saw the existence of an epigenesis of intellectual functioning, which implies that the experiential roots of a given schema, or learned behavior, will lie in antecedent activities that may be quite different in structure from the schema to be learned. She used this principle effectively. This article discusses how Montessori’s method and materials address the indirect and direct preparation for learning written language.     

Creating critical classrooms: reading and writing with an edge

Since the foundation in this country in 1950 of the Institut für Film Und Bild the production of AV aids for tuition and education has been promoted in many ways.     

A profile of causal development amongst ten-year-olds: Implications for reading and writing

Causality has been singled out by several researchers as an important factor in text comprehension and memory. The basic assumption underlying this view is that the perception of causal ties between elements in a text binds the text elements together and enables the reader to construct a coherent representation of the text in memory. Although research findings indicate that causality is a strong predictor of comprehension in narrative texts, the role that causality plays in the comprehension of expository texts has received relatively little attention. In the research reported in this article, a profile of causal development in ten-year-olds was built up on the basis of their recall of history and science texts in which the amount of causal connectivity differed. Four variables were identified and measured, namely length of recall protocols, amount of causal connections recalled from original test passages, amount of causal density and causal hierarchicalization created in the recall protocols. The results of the recall test were also compared to the subjects' English grades. The findings indicate that causal connections play an important role in expository text recall, and that subjects who have a strong causal profile also, generally, perform well in English. The research and pedagogical implications of these findings for reading and writing skills are discussed.     

Friends, classmates, and self-regulated learning: discussions with peers inside and outside the classroom

The current study sought to understand the relationship between peer discussions and self-regulated learning. Eighty-eight first year high school students answered questions from the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire and reported the perceived frequency of discussions with peers both inside and outside of the classroom regarding self-regulated learning. Results suggest that differences exist between the frequency of self-regulation discussions with peers from inside and outside of the classroom, especially for discussions concerning motivation. Discussions with peers outside of class were related more closely to students’ reported self-regulated learning than discussion with peers inside of class. In addition, peer groups with higher average levels of self-regulated learning discussions had individual members with high reported self-regulated learning. The study’s results also highlight the need for further research on the mechanisms by which peer discussions may relate to students’ self-regulated learning.     

Classroom activities and engagement for children with reading and writing difficulties

A multiple case study is reported aiming at comparing the degree of taking part and being engaged in classroom activities for children with and without reading and writing difficulties. Observations are made of 23 pupils with reading and writing difficulties (seven with a diagnosis of dyslexia), and 23 pupils in a control group; the observations concern accessibility to, taking part in, engagement and received help in classroom activities. The result is discussed in relation to the two goals in Swedish schools: ‘goals to attain’ and ‘goals to aim for’. A conclusion is that the two goals for the instruction in Swedish language involve a dilemma for teachers, since all children are expected to reach the ‘goals to attain’, while instruction is expected to be directed towards ‘goals to aim for’.