The following articles* from the American Educator, Spring/Summer 1998, are
available only as Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files:
The Unique Power of Reading and How To Unleash It*
Editor's Note
What Reading Does for the Mind*
By Anne E. Cunningham and Keith E. Stanovich
Innate ability isn't the only variable that determines cognitive competence.
Reading has cascading effects on the mind, and its benefits are available to
everyone.
The Elusive Phoneme
By Marilyn Jager Adams, Barbara R. Foorman, Ingvar Lundberg, and Terri
Beeler
Weakness in the phonological area of language development
cause 25 to 40 percent of children to have serious difficulties in learning
to read and write. Finally, we know how to help them.
Catch Them Before They Fall*
Identification and Assessment To Prevent Reading Failure in Young Children
By Joseph K. Torgesen
Children who get off to a poor start in reading rarely catch up, yet few school districts
have any systematic means for early identification of those at risk of reading difficulty.
Here's how to change that.
Teaching Decoding*
By Louisa C. Moats
There is now broad consensus that fluent, accurate decoding is central to skilled
reading. But this renewed attention to phonics won't amount to much unless it is taught
well. We must avoid the problems found not only in whole-language approaches to
phonics but also in traditional phonics programs.
Every Child Reading
This country's reading problems are largely solvable if we have the will to
solve them. Here's a ten-step action plan.
Getting at the Meaning
By Isabel L. Beck, Margaret G. McKeown, Rebecca L. Hamilton, and Linda Kucan
Watch fifth graders read a typical social studies text and you're likely to
see their eyes glazing over and little learning taking place. How can we get
students to really dig in and pull meaning from difficult text?
Another Chance*
Help for Older Students with Limited Literacy
By Jane Fell Greene
What to do with the ninth grader who reads at a third-grade level--show a
video of the assigned book and accept "alternative projects" for credit? No,
says the author, we should provide these students with a concentrated,
ambitious, research-based literacy curriculum.
The Little Bookstore that Grew to a Thousand
By Lyric Wallwork Winik
Six years ago, we published an article about a New York City
teacher who had conceived of the idea of opening a children's bookstore
right inside her school building. And look what has happened since!
What Reading Does for the Soul
By Annie Dillard
Anyone who has ever gotten lost in a book--and then returned to this world
richer for the journey--will want to read this childhood memoir by the
Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
Articles not posted online are available. To request a copy, please send an
e-mail to amered@aft.org
