Mary W. Olson

Phonological Awareness: The What, Why, and How.

The problems of Sam, a hypothetical disabled reader, are described in terms of his possible lack of phonological awareness. Phonological awareness and its subunits (onsets, rimes, and phonemes) are explained with examples. Research that supports the notion that phonological awareness is necessary for reading success, as well as the issue of whether children can be taught phonological awareness, is discussed. Activities that encourage phonological awareness in children are described.

A survey of content reading program development in U.S. Schools

Abstract Since the 1900s many prominent educators have advocated that all teachers help students comprehend texts they assign in their classes, but no national studies have been carried out to survey how widely U.S. schools have implemented content reading programs. The purposes of this study were (a) to determine how widely U.S. secondary schools have implemented programs which involve all content teachers in presenting techniques for learning the content by reading and (b) to discover factors which encourage and hinder development of such programs. A questionnaire was sent to 1,124 persons who subscribed to the Journal of Reading. Of these, 466 (41%) were returned. Returns were received from all fifty states. Overwhelmingly, teachers believed content reading programs would improve teaching and learning in their schools. Despite strong advocacy for content reading programs, however, data from this study indicate that approximately 63% of U.S. schools have not considered developing such programs. A numbe...

Early and Current Reading and Spelling Practices of Gifted Spellers.

This study continued investigating the early reading and spelling experiences as well as the spelling practices of the finalists in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, specifically the 1987 spellers who were considered gifted spellers. Two open-ended questionnaires were used: one for the parents of the spellers and one for the spellers. A follow-up telephone interview was conducted with a random sample of respondents. Results indicated that gifted spellers showed an early interest in language arts activities with 86% of the parents reporting that their children could read prior to formal schooling. The spellers considered themselves avid readers and indicated sophisticated metacognitive awareness whether reading or spelling. Results that suggested the spellers passed through developmental spelling stages far earlier than average children and relied on visual memory strategies, word meanings, and saying/writing words to master the orthography replicated findings from an earlier study.

Classroom Uses of Specialized Magazines

There are many specialized magazines for young readers of all ages on the mark t today. Historical Times, for example, is a magazine for high school students that publishes articles concerning the colonial period and mid-nineteenth century. Other magazines focus on scientific discoveries, current events, computer technology, health, fiction, art, and other subjects. Many teachers recognize that specialized magazines are good supplements to classroom textbooks (Appel and Turkish 1984; Memory 1984; Seminoff 1986). These magazines are worthwhile because they (1) contain highinterest articles, (2) are visually attractive, and, most important, (3) provide informative articles that students enjoy reading. In some instances, teachers use magazines primarily for recreational reading or as rewards for hard work or achievement. In other instances, teachers use magazines as primary teaching tools, relying on the content in the magazines for much of the curriculum in their classes. Since there have been no recent studies regarding classroom uses of magazines, this study was designed to determine the extent to which teachers use magazines in their classrooms and the instructional uses they make of them.