Syftet med den kvantitativa undersökningen var att jämföra ASL (att skriva sig till läsning) i ett helordsperspektiv med den traditionella ljudmetoden gällande elevers tidiga läs- och skrivutveckling. Jämförelsen gjordes också för att se vilken läsinlärningsmetod som är mest gynnsam och om någon av dessa har bättre möjligheter att förebygga läs- och skrivsvårigheter. Undersökningen bygger på sekundärdata från cirka 200 elever med olika läsinlärningsmetoder där i första hand ordavkodningsförmågan jämförs. Resultat gällande fonologisk medvetenhet, ordavkodningsförmåga, stavning samt nationella prov i svenska samlades in från två parallellgrupper (ASL - ljudmetod). Testmaterialet har hämtats från förskoleklass till och med årskurs 3. Resultatet visade bättre ordavkodningsförmåga för de flesta elever som har haft ASL som läsinlärningsmetod. Detsamma gäller för elever som hade hög ordavkodningsförmåga från årskurs 1. För elever med låg ordavkodningsförmåga visade resultaten däremot ingen skillnad mellan de båda metoderna. En tolkning skulle kunna göras att ASL gynnar ordavkodningsförmågan för många elever, men inte har större möjligheter än ljudmetoden att förebygga läs- och skrivsvårigheter. / The purpose of the quantitative study was to compare WTR (writing to read) in a whole language perspective with the traditional phonics regarding students' early literacy development. The comparison was also made to see which literacy learning method that is most favourable and if any of them is more able to prevent reading and writing disabilities. The study is based on secondary data from approximately 200 students with different methods of teaching reading in which primarily word decoding ability was compared. Results regarding phonological awareness, word decoding ability, spelling and National tests in Swedish were gathered from two parallel groups (WTR - phonics). The test material has been taken from pre-school to grade 3. The results showed better word decoding ability for most students who have had WTR as literacy learning method. The same applies to students who had high word decoding ability from grade 1. Results from students with low word decoding ability showed however no difference between the two methods. One interpretation would be that WTR favours word decoding ability for many students, but does not have more opportunities than phonics of preventing reading and writing disabilities.

The thesis thema is "Fairy Tales activities in kindergarten: Hansel and Gretel". Theoretical part of this thesis displays the definition of fairy tale and specifications of the preschool age. The goal of practical part is to compare different versions of the fairy tale and chose the best one for preschool age childern. Next step then is preparation of project foccused on children skills developement by work with fairy tale Hansel and Gretel. Organisation of lessons in the ordinary kindergarden. Summary of the project and recomendation for praxis. Methhods as interview and observation has been used. Childern have been developping six types of inteligence by participation in this project, they also developed their ideas presentation in the group and also in comunication with the teacher. KEYWORDS: pre-reading literacy, work with book, dramatization of fairy tales, development of reading methods pre-reading literacy, Hansel and Gretel

Syftet med undersökningen är att söka svar på hur yrkesverksamma lärare inom skolans tidi-gare åldrar åk.1–3 arbetar med läsinlärning. Jag vill även undersöka vilka läsinlärningsme-toder lärarna använder i undervisningen samt vilka faktorer som påverkat dessa lärares val av läsinlärningsmetoder.  Min undersökning består av sex semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer med lärare, all verksamma inom samma mellansvenska kommun.  Flera intressanta aspekter har framkommit genom undersökningen. Bland annat att ingen av de intervjuade lärarna använder sig av en enda renodlad metod. Istället blandar de och tar ”det bästa” från olika metoder samt anpassar sitt arbetssätt delvis efter den barngrupp de arbe-tar med. Faktorer som påverkat lärarnas val av läsinlärningsmetoder är exempelvis trender, erfarna kollegor och kommunalt inflytande. / The aim of this study has been to find answers as to how primary teachers in the early ages (grades 1–3) help children in the process of learning to read. I also wanted to investigate wich methods teachers use in teaching their students in learning to read. My interest also lies in what has affected the teachers choice of reading methods.  My study is based on six semistructured qualitative interviews with teachers, who all work in the same town, but in different schools.  Several interesting aspects emerged from the interviews. For example, none of the teachers use only one reading method. The mix and match and adapt their teaching according to their class and preconditions. Factors that have influenced their choice of method is, among other things, trends older colleges and municipal influence.

The curriculum for social studies is designed in a way where knowledge is assessed through the students’ expressive language skills. Much of the knowledge is also expected to be gained through reading. The purpose of this study is to examine what types of scaffolding teachers can create for students reading social studies nonfiction texts in grades 4–5. The study is based on observations and interviews with three teachers. The material was subsequently analysed based on characteristics in language development methods, showing that teachers do not emphasise the importance of language for learning when teaching. The results also show that students, to a small extent, are used as supporting resources for one another and that teachers themselves take up much of the talking space in the classroom. During structured oral text instruction teachers request short answers, that are evaluable rather than allowing time for interrogative and reflective discussions. The effect of the teacher centered teaching is that the students are passivate instead of challenged with cognitively demanding tasks where scaffolding can enable a potentially higher learning level.

In South Africa, the issue of learners reading below their grade level is of great concern. In order to overcome this problem, the Department of Education made it possible that learners be taught to read early in Grade 1. However, despite the learners being taught to learn to read at an early stage, numerous studies have revealed that most of the learners, including those in Grade 3, are still experiencing reading problems. The purpose of this study is to explore how Grade 3 teachers support learners who experience reading problems in Full-service schools. Full-service schools are mainstream schools that were transformed to attend to the underlying inclusive principles and to provide quality education to all learners. In this study, a qualitative approach was used to collect data at the Tshwane North District in the Gauteng Province. The interview questions were piloted with one of the Grade 3 class teachers from a neighbouring full-service school. Then after the pilot study, eleven Grade 3 class teachers and six Learner Support Teachers from three identified full-service schools were interviewed and observed in their classroom while supporting learners experiencing reading problems. The documents that they used were also analysed. To analyse the empirical data an inductive approach and the method for analysing data suggested by Creswell (2000) was followed. The findings revealed that teachers who participated in this study followed a more prescriptive approach of supporting learners who were experiencing reading problems. Furthermore, the findings revealed they used different reading strategies and reading methods even though there were some challenges that hampered the implementation of the support. The issue of differentiating and adapting the reading support to suit the diverse reading needs of learners arose from the study. This was due to the fact that most of the teachers were not trained to adapt the reading support based on the reading needs of the learners. Based on the findings, recommendations were made, and guidelines to draw up an effective reading support based on an integrated approach for Grade 3 learners who experience reading problems in full-service schools was developed. The guidelines combined two theories that underpinned the study, namely, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory. The researcher concluded that learners’ improvement in terms of their reading abilities relies on how teachers provided support to them. Hence it is important for teachers to be equipped with sufficient skills and knowledge to provide individualised reading support to learners experiencing reading problems. / Inclusive Education / Ph. D. (Inclusive Education)