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Many of our articles dated 2000 and earlier can now be found in this archive.

Children with disabilities can benefit from the same language and literacy activities as all young children: being read to, having rich conversations, and playing games with sounds. However, children with disabilities may need these activities to be modified or intensified for maximum benefit. Find out about activities for struggling readers in these suggestions for parents.

Peer tutoring, cross-age tutoring, and small learning groups have been shown by research to be effective for teaching reading to students with and without learning disabilities. This articles affirms that using a variety of grouping formats is preferable to whole class instruction or ability grouping.

Effective writing instruction for students with disabilities incorporates three components: adhering to a basic framework of planning, writing, and revision; explicitly teaching critical steps in the writing process; and providing feedback guided by the information explicitly taught. Learn more about methods for using these components in this article.

When students study spelling words, they usually memorize a sequence of letters that they promptly forget once the test is over. Learn about a method for teaching kids spelling words that focuses them on the sequence of sounds in words first. Also learn tips for creating a successful spelling program.

When students study spelling words, they usually memorize a sequence of letters that they promptly forget once the test is over. Learn about a method for teaching kids spelling words that focuses them on the sequence of sounds in words first. Also learn tips for creating a successful spelling program.

Thinking about the sounds in words is not natural, but it can be fun. Here are some games children can play to develop phonemic awareness, as well as a method for segmenting words that prevents children from distorting the pronunciation of the phonemes.

Beginning readers are not usually fluent, but classroom practices can help them develop this important skill. This article describes both direct and indirect methods for increasing fluency through classroom instruction.

Vocabulary is a weak area for many students, but much "vocabulary instruction" ends up being handwriting practice.

When it comes to reading, the nine months of first grade are arguably the most important in a student's schooling.

Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) teaches students to use comprehension strategies while working cooperatively. Student strategies include previewing the text; giving ongoing feedback by deciding "click" (I get it) or "clunk" (I don't get it) at the end of each paragraph; "getting the gist" of the most important parts of the text; and "wrapping up" key ideas. Find out how to help students of mixed achievement levels apply comprehension strategies while reading content area text in small groups.

This article describes two processes that are essential to teaching beginning reading to students with learning disabilities: phonological awareness and word recognition, and provides tips for teaching these processes to students.

Children who speak nonstandard dialects of English may be at greater risk for reading difficulties.

Reading ability is determined by many factors, and requires the development of certain skills through early reading instruction to attain initial success and build on it.

To become life long readers, children in second grade and up need excellent instruction and experience with a wide variety of engaging texts. Here is a list of recommended areas for reading instruction in second grade and beyond.

The foundations for reading success are formed long before a child reaches first grade.

The Committee for the Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children has compiled detailed lists of literacy accomplishments for children of different ages. Find out what the typical child can do in kindergarten.

Whether reading to a child, sharing reading, or listening to a child read aloud, there are many strategies a tutor can use to improve the skills of a young reader. Learn about the strategies – from modeling to KWL – that are useful for tutoring children in grades one through three.

Creative writing plays an important role in a child's literacy development. This article makes suggestions for the instruction and evaluation of children's stories.

From webbing to semantic feature analysis, this article describes strategies for teaching vocabulary that replace memorizing definitions with building concepts.

With little or no direct instruction, almost all young children develop the ability to understand spoken language. While most kindergarten children have mastered the complexities of speech, they do not know that spoken language is made up of discrete words, which are made up of syllables, which themselves are made up of the smallest units of sound, called "phonemes." This awareness that spoken language is made up of discrete sounds appears to be a crucial factor in children learning to read.