Reading Instruction in America

The diversity of student populations in the United States presents educators with many challenges. To provide effective reading instruction for the individual student, teachers must understand the enormous variety of reading methods and materials that exist and make independent decisions based on their students’ particular needs. Research indicates that educators are often influenced by reading instruction fads that quickly fade, making it more challenging to develop a repertoire of teaching strategies in which a teacher may have confidence. This book examines a variety of reading methods used in American schools from the 19th to the 21st century, and the literature promoting or critiquing them, to help teachers become informed decision makers and better meet the needs of students.

Barbara Ruth Peltzman is an associate professor of education at St. John’s University on the Staten Island Campus.

Barbara Ruth Peltzman
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 288
Bibliographic Info: bibliographies, index
Copyright Date: 2015
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3524-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2013-8
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments vi

Preface 1

Introduction 3

Noah Webster, Jr. (1758–1843) 7

William Holmes McGuffey (1800–1873) 17

The Joplin Plan 24

Grouping for Instruction 29

Basal Readers 41

Arthur Irving Gates (1890–1972) 50

William Scott Gray, Jr. (1885–1960) 56

Fernald Technique 62

The ­Gillingham-Stillman Approach and the ­Orton-Gillingham Approach 83

The Language Experience Approach 97

The Individualized Reading Approach 108

Readability 117

Oral Reading 129

Miscue Analysis 135

Initial Teaching Alphabet—ITA 144

Words in Color 147

The Linguistic Approach 155

Emergent Literacy 164

Story Grammar 168

Reading Recovery Program 175

Phonemic Awareness 183

The Whole Language Approach 188

Literature Circles 196

Literature-Based Reading Approaches 202

Readers’ Theater 225

The Four Blocks Framework 231

Cloze Procedure 246

Question-Answer Relationship Strategy 254

Alternative Assessment Techniques 259

Reading-Writing Workshop 266

Index 275