Early Literacy Instruction: Teaching Reading and Writing in Today's Primary Grades

This introductory  K-3 literacy text models explicit instruction as a vehicle for developing reading and writing skills in primary classrooms.  The authors rely on both recent research and personal experience, sharing classroom-proven lesson plans, samples of student work, and examples from the classroom to ground and apply each chapter's content.  A new focus on struggling readers - in feature boxes within each chapter, as adaptation ideas within lesson plans, and in a complete chapter (Chapter 11 - Interventions for Struggling Readers) - gives you the information you need to detect, assess, and address the needs of these students.  English Language Learner notes provide guidance for meeting the needs of students whose first language is not English. 

 

John A. Smith

Dr. John A. Smith is a professor in the Department of Elementary Education at Utah State University.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Brigham Young University, a master’s degree in Elementary Curriculum from the University of Utah, and a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

 

Dr. Smith has 10 years of elementary classroom teaching experience in 2^nd and 5^th grades and as a Chapter 1 reading teacher, and 20 years experience teaching at the university level.  Dr. Smith also taught at-risk students entering kindergarten and 1^st grade for three summers at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  Dr. Smith served three years as Reading Coordinator for the Chapel Hill City School District, during which time the district’s Chapter 1 program was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as an Exemplary Program.  A highlight of Dr. Smith’s teaching was taking a year off from university teaching to return to a first-grade classroom to implement the comprehensive literacy instruction framework described in this book.

 

Dr. Smith has worked extensively with teachers in elementary school classrooms as a Reading Excellence Act reading coach and currently as a consultant and Reading First technical assistant.  Dr. Smith’s publications and presentation topics include implementing balanced, comprehensive literacy instruction, implementing a variety of reading instruction strategies, and enhancing literacy instruction with children’s songs.  He is reviewer for The Reading Teacher and Literacy Research & Instruction journals, and currently serves as a member of the Executive Board of the College Reading Association.

 

Dr. Smith’s teaching awards include USU College of Education Teacher of the Year, USU Department of Elementary Education Teacher of the Year, USU Extension Program Teaching Award, and the Mortar Board “Top Prof” award.

 

Dr. Smith and his wife Joanne are proud parents of five children and three grandchildren, so far.

 

Sylvia Read

Dr. Sylvia Read is an assistant professor in the Department of Elementary Education at Utah State University.  She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Illinois, a master’s degree in Education from the University of Illinois, and a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Utah State University.

 

Dr. Read has 13 years of classroom teaching experience in 1^st, 2^nd, 6^th, and 7^th grades and 6 years of experience teaching at the university level. 

 

Dr. Read works extensively with teachers in elementary school classrooms as a writing instruction mentor, as a professional developer for school districts in the area of reading and writing, and as the leader of professional study groups locally.  Dr. Read’s publications and presentation topics include incorporating nonfiction in the reading and writing curriculum, implementing effective writing instruction strategies, and using children’s literature effectively in language arts instruction.  She is co-editor of Literacy Research and Instruction, a publication of the College Reading Association.

 

Dr. Read and her husband, Michael, have two children, Nancy and Isaac.