Guiding readers with solid, key principles for teaching phonics, this text shares with prospective and inservice K-5 teachers a wealth of developmental practices for understanding phonics to help children learn phonics.

The author offers an easy-to-understand explanation of the stages K-5 children move through as they learn to identify words, ties these stages to accepted theories and research, and provides 96 hands-on activities for teaching word identification. Coverage addresses the needs of children who have difficulty identifying words in context, as well as those whose first language is not English. By focusing on transferable teaching strategies rather than rote letter/sound learning, this text reshapes how future and practicing teachers will introduce this critical component of reading to tomorrow's classrooms.