Archive for March, 2009

Data gathering is vital for planning effective instruction
The reading gap

The gap which divides “good readers and spellers” and “poor readers and spellers” begins to form early in a student’s school life. Early years’ teachers observe differences in their students’ expressive and receptive language, knowledge about print, abilities to hear sounds and sound patterns, and to articulate and recreate them.

With this diversity in mind, can careful …

Junk food for young readers or an appropriate starting point?

The more you read, the better you get. There is no surprise about this. It makes sense and there is universal agreement from literacy researchers and teachers.

With this in mind, let’s think about human nature. Most of us enjoy doing the things we are good at, and avoid those things too challenging or that have little …