Annotated Table of Contents: First Grade and Secondary English

Teaching English, How To.... by Raymond Stopper.

Part Four: Reading

Chapter 20. The First Grade-Secondary English connection: What should secondary English teachers know about beginning reading and writing instruction? What is a discussion of elementary reading and writing instruction doing in a book about teaching secondary English?

I include this chapter for four reasons. First, secondary teachers should know how children learn to read.

Second, the method for teaching comprehension in the elementary school, beginning in the first grade, is the directed reading assignment, the technique I recommend throughout this book for secondary teachers in all subjects to help their students read difficult assignments successfully.

Third, the issue of phonics and the basal vs. "whole language" is typical of issues in education that become "either/or" arguments. A similar "either/or" issue occurred in secondary English in the 1990s when proponents of the writing process battled fiercely in professional journals with the proponents of the writing product.

Fourth, the issue of "invented spelling" in the early stages of learning to write is actually an issue for every grade level, including the high school.