Synopses & Reviews
A step-by-step guide to literacy education in grades 1-4, Building Words goes beyond theory to include specific guidelines and lesson plans for the classroom. This flexible, easy-to-use book includes almost everything you might need to structure an effective literacy program based on word analysis skills and strategies. The book guides the reader through a series of lessons, from initial assessment through the principles of emergent literacy and phonics, to the more advanced skills of contextual analysis and spelling. In addition, each section is complemented by dozens of songs, riddles, and puzzles that can be used in activities to practice and reinforce word analysis skills in the classroom. For teachers of grades 1-4 or early childhood educators.
About the Author
Thomas G. Gunning has taught courses in methods of teaching reading and writing for more than 20 years and was director of the Reading Clinic at Southern Connecticut State University. Before that, as a secondary English teacher, a reading specialist, and an elementary school reading consultant, he worked extensively with achieving and struggling readers and writers. Dr. Gunning, who recently served as a Reading First consultant, is currently working with elementary and middle school students to help them develop higher level literacy skills, as well as serving as an adjunct professor in the Reading/Language Arts Department at Central Connecticut State University. Over the years, Dr. Gunning’s research has explored reading interests, informal reading inventories, decoding strategies, readability, higher-level literacy skills, and response to intervention. As a result of this research, he has created a number of informal assessments and programs for developing decoding and comprehension skills.
Table of Contents
Preface.
Prologue.
1. Teaching Word Analysis.
The Nature of Word Analysis Strategies.
Stages of Literacy.
The Nature of the Spelling System.
The Content of Phonics.
2. Getting Started: Assessing Students' Literacy Development.
Assessing Emergent Literacy.
Assessing Ability to Decode Single-Syllable Words.
Assessing Ability to Decode Multisyllabic Words.
Finding Students' Instructional Levels.
Assessing Spelling.
Ongoing Assessment.
3. Fostering Emergent Literacy.
Shared Reading.
Students' Writing.
Experience Stories.
Using Real-World Materials.
Phonological Awareness.
Developing the Concept of Word.
Letter Knowledge.
Resources for Fostering Emergent Literacy.
4. Teaching Phonics.
Word Building.
Teaching Consonant Correspondences.
Holistic Application.
Resources for Teaching Consonant Correspondences.
Consonant Digraphs.
Consonant Clusters.
Resources for Teaching Consonant Clusters.
5. Teaching Vowel Patterns.
Short-Vowel Pattern Lesson.
Long-Vowel Pattern Lesson.
Using a Sound-by-Sound Approach.
Implementing Strategies.
High-Payoff Reinforcement Activities.
Using Word Analysis References.
Commercial Materials.
Vowel Pattern Resources.
6. Sight Words.
The Nature of Sight Words.
Additional Practice Activities.
Using the Rhythm of Language to Foster Rapid Recognition.
7. Syllabic Analysis.
Teaching Syllable Patterns.
Teaching Strategies to Students.
Scope and Sequence of the Program.
Multisyllabic Pattern Lesson.
Added Reinforcement Activities.
Syllable Pattern Resources
8. Using Context.
Changing Role of Context Clues.
Teaching Context Clues.
Importance of Phonics.
Using Prompts.
Ongoing, Systematic Instruction.
9. Spelling.
General Instruction to Stages.
Formal versus Informal Instruction.
Choosing Words for Spelling.
Spelling Scope and Sequence.
Spelling Strategies.
Study Technique for Learning Spelling Words.
Students Who Have Special Difficulty with Spelling.
Individualizing Spelling Instruction.
Teaching Spelling.
Assessing Spelling.
Integrating Spelling and Reading Instruction.
10. Organizing and Implementing a Program for Building Word Analysis Skills and Strategies.
Setting Objectives.
Direct, Systematic Instruction.
Building on What Students Know.
As an Intervention Program.
Monitoring Progress.
Parental and Community Involvement.
Ample Opportunity to Read and Write.
Checklist for Evaluating Your Literacy Program.
Appendix A: Benchmark Passages Inventory.
Appendix B: Fold-and-Read Books.
References.
Index.