Early Reading Instruction: What Science Really Tells Us about How to Teach Reading

ISBN-13: 9780262633352 Publisher: MIT Press Publication date: 01/20/2006 Series: A Bradford Book Edition description: New Edition Pages: 428 Product dimensions: 7.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d) Age Range: 18 Years Early Reading Instruction is a comprehensive analysis of the research evidence from early writing systems to computer models of reading. In this book, Diane McGuinness provides an innovative solution to the "reading war"—the century-old debate over the efficacy of phonics (sound-based) versus whole-word (meaning- based) methods. She has developed a prototype—a set of elements that are critical to the success of a reading method.McGuinness shows that all writing systems, without exception, are based on a sound unit in the language. This fact, and other findings by paleographers, provides a platform for the prototype. Other elements of the prototype are based on modern research. For example, observational studies in the classroom show that time spent on three activities strongly p