Emergent+Readers

From the ages of 4 to 6 most children will learn to read. Reading does not just happen. It is a complex skill that relies on many cognitive abilities. Furthermore, many of our youth do not have the language necessary for this task. If we expect our children to become successful readers, they must be put through an effective literacy program starting at a very early. What exactly constitutes an effective literacy program? There is no one perfect answer, but let’s begin with what children need first.


 * Bransford, J. & Johnson, M. (1972). Contextual Prerequisites for Understanding: Some Investigations of Comprehension and Recall. //Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior//, 717-726.** According to Bransford and Johnson (1972), meaningful prior knowledge of a topic will result in greater comprehension and recall. However, they also remind us that prior knowledge of a situation does not guarantee that it will be useful for comprehending the text. The prior knowledge must be within a meaningful context to what is being read. In order for a reader to be able to comprehend and recall a sentence, they must interpret the deep structural relations underlying sentences (Bransford and Johnson, 1972).


 * Manning, M. Manning, G., Long., R., & Kamii, C. (1993) Preschoolers’ conjunctures about **
 * segments of a written sentence. //Journal of Reasearch in Childhood Education, 8, 1, 5-11.// **Manning and Manning found that as children develop they are able to use their knowledge of word order to figure out unfamiliar print words in written sentences before they are able to use their knowledge of phonics to figure out unfamiliar print words. (Manning, 1993).


 * Sacks, C.H., & Mergendoller, J.R. (1997). The relationship between teachers’ theoretical **
 * orientation toward reading and student outcomes in kindergarten children with different initial reading abilities. //American Educational Research Journal, 34, 4, 721-739.// **Sacks and Mergendoller studied 132 kindergartners in eleven classrooms. They found the children who improved most in reading achievement were in classrooms. They found the children who improved most in reading achievement were in classrooms with contemporary, meaning-emphasis reading instruction. (Sacks, 1997).


 * Treiman, R. (1983). The structure of spoken syllables: Evidence from novel word games. **
 * //Cognition, 15, 49-74. //**Treiman’s research shows that young children have an innate ability to analyze spoken syllables into onsets and rimes and later learn to analyze onsets and rimes into their constituent phonemes. Treiman found that if she played these same word games with eight-year-old children and adults they had difficulty with the tasks. (Treiman, 1983).


 * Goodman, K. (1965). A linguistic study of cues and miscues in reading. //Elementary English, 42, 639-643.// **Goodman’s reaearch showed that early readers use their knowledge of language along with their knowledge of letter-sound correspondence to figure out print words. He asked 100 randomly selected children in first, second, and third grade to read lists of words and then to read stories that contained the same words. He found that the children were able to read many words that they had missed in the list within the context of the story.