Donald Bear

Retired, Iowa State University, School of Education, Emeritus

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Donald is Professor Emeritus in Literacy Studies at Iowa State, and University of Nevada, Reno where he directed literacy centers and taught at all levels. A former classroom teacher, Donald is an author of numerous articles, chapters, and 17 books, including Words Their Way, 6th edition. His research explores the synchrony of literacy development from beginning concept of word in prekindergarten to how morphology underlies academic vocabulary learning. Donald recently served as a board member of the International Literacy Association.

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Annotated Bibliography of Research in the Teaching of English

Research in the Teaching of English

... tivity. Barone, D. (2003/2004). Second grade is important: Literacy instruction and learning ... more

Letter and picture sorts for emergent spellers

Allyn & Bacon eBooks, 2010

Learning to Spell in English by Chinese Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

TESOL International Journal, 2018

This study investigates the English spelling of students in grades 2 through 8 in Mainland China.... more This study investigates the English spelling of students in grades 2 through 8 in Mainland China. A review of spelling and cross-linguistic research in spelling is presented. The orthographic development of 273 students was assessed with validated spelling inventories to sample developmental features across three layers of English orthography. The sample size and the detailed analyses make this study unique. The 13 features in the analyses spanned development from beginning consonants to roots. Feature analyses predicted grade level, and there were signifcant differences across grades. Students made predictable spelling errors that refected a similar developmental sequence to native English speakers. The error analyses across grades adds to the body of cross-linguistic literature illustrating how English language learners develop basic literacy skills in a similar manner to English-L1 children . This study indicates that as some English learners advanced in grades, their L1 has less of an impact on their spelling in English. When orthographic knowledge is examined across the alphabet, pattern, and meaning layers and crosslinguistically, researchers and educators can identify features students have mastered and what they are learning as a guide for a sequence of instruction and monitoring growth.

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USING CHILDREN'S SPELLINGS TO GROUP FOR WORD STUDY AND DIRECTED READING IN THE PRIMARY CLASSROOM Bear & Barone

Reading Psychology, 1989

"This paper describes an informal spelling assessment that teachers can use to understand student... more "This paper describes an informal spelling assessment that teachers can use to understand students' level of orthographic knowledge at the beginning of the school year. The results of this informal testing allow primary grade teachers to group students in September for word study and directed literacy instruction. The results of a year-long study in a 1st-3rd grade classroom demonstrate that the initial placements of students were appropriate for instruction throughout the year. The initial spelling measures predicted reading achievement at various levels."

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Why Beginning Reading Must Be Word-By-Word: Disfluent Oral Reading and Orthographic

Visible Language, 1989

The development of reading fluency is a gradual process which often entails strategies that make... more The development of reading fluency is a gradual process which
often entails strategies that make for a disfluent oral presentation.
Disfluent oral reading, fingerpointing and reading aloud to
oneself are the most characteristic behaviors of beginning
readers. In this paper, research related to these reading behaviors
and the corresponding spelling behaviors is presented.
Based on an integrated theory of literacy proficiency, the synchrony
between stages of reading and spelling development
and the reasons why these stages are related are discussed.

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Literacy Activities that Highlight Emergent and Beginning Literacy Development

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Vocabulary Instruction and Word Study with English Language Learners AFT TEACH Conference “Making a Difference Everyday”

• Vocabulary notebooks and interesting words • Orthographic development in another language • Wha... more • Vocabulary notebooks and interesting words • Orthographic development in another language • What is development like with students learning English • Assessments, and spelling as a window to assess word knowledge • How to bend English word study instruction with students who speak other languages • Word study at each stage Vocabulary development builds on students ’ language and literacy experiences. Explore what exemplary word study and vocabulary instruction look like in K-6 classrooms with linguistically diverse learners. b. c. RRWWT

Patterns of oral reading across stages of word knowledge

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The relationship between rapid automatized naming and orthographic knowledge

National Reading Conference Yearbook, 1991

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Validating a Classroom Observation Tool for Studying Developmental Word Study Instruction

Orthographic Knowledge and Reading Fluency among within Word Pattern Spellers in Grades 2–5

Reading Psychology

This study investigated relationships among the reading fluency, word recognition, language backg... more This study investigated relationships among the reading fluency, word recognition, language background, and reading achievement in second through fifth graders. Among the 250 students sampled, 70% were within word pattern (WWP) spellers. These WWP stage spellers were remarkably similar in reading, regardless of grade and Limited English Proficient designation. Years in school did not compensate for orthographic development in reading rate and word recognition. There were significant differences in reading rates for 1-min and passage rates (ηp 2 = .34) for students in this stage, and criterion referenced test pass rates were associated with Curriculum-Based Measure norms for reading rate. Implications for instruction are presented.

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What spelling tells us about the orthographic development and word study instruction with emergent bilingual secondary students

Reading Psychology

I would like to thank Drs. Reible, Willson and Valsaraj for their guidance during my research. Es... more I would like to thank Drs. Reible, Willson and Valsaraj for their guidance during my research. Especially I sincerely appreciate Dr.Willson for his consistent guidance throughout the whole research and dissertation writing processes. Also I would like to thank Dr. Judy Wornat and Dr. Julius Langlinais for serving on my committee. I am also grateful to Dr. Raghunathan Ravikrishna and all other colleagues in our group as they provide various ways of assistance to my research.

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The Implications of Adolescents’ Academic Word Knowledge for Achievement and Instruction

Reading Psychology, 2016

The purpose of the current study was to determine relationships between orthographic and morpholo... more The purpose of the current study was to determine relationships between orthographic and morphological awareness of academic words and achievement across content areas. Participants (n = 256), diverse seventh and eighth graders, took three word knowledge measures; two standardized achievement measures were used as outcomes. Orthographic awareness of academic words explained variance in achievement, beyond overall breadth of vocabulary knowledge, with significant changes in R2 ranging from 0.02 to 0.08. Morphological awareness of academic words explained variance in achievement, beyond overall breadth of vocabulary knowledge, with significant changes in R2 ranging from 0.06 to 0.16.

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Development of orthographic skills in Chinese children

This study investigates possible developmental trends in children's invented spelling (or spellin... more This study investigates possible developmental trends in children's invented spelling (or spelling errors) in Chinese elementary schools. The entire study consists of two substudies, Study A and Study B. Study A analyzes over 7000 invented spellings collected from the writing samples of 1200 children. Study B analyzes 3995 invented spellings that were collected from the spelling tests of 300 children. These invented spellings are sorted initially according to emerging patterns according to the way the invented spellings deviate from standard spellings; they are then further subsumed into three general categories according to the linguistic principles of Chinese characters-phonologically based spelling errors, graphemic spelling errors, and semantic spelling errors. Qualitative analysis of the invented spellings of these three categories indicates that children's spelling errors are not random; rather they reflect the development of children's orthographic knowledge. Regression analysis for linear trend shows that a developmental trend in the use of spelling strategies exists: at the lower elementary level, phonological strategies predominate; as grade level advances, the use of graphemic and semantic strategies increases.

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Explorations in developmental spelling: Foundations for learning and teaching phonics, spelling, and vocabulary

Reading Teacher, 1998

Bear and Templeton address two broad questions in this article: What is our understanding of spel... more

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Does an established model of orthographic development hold true for English learners

56 th …, 2007

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Korczak, an Advocate for Children

Hands On, 1994

Abstract: Profiles the life and writings of Janusz Korczak, who lived in Poland from 1878 until h... more

Neuroscience: Exploring the

developmental spelling: Foundations for learning and teaching phonics, spelling, and vocabulary B... more developmental spelling: Foundations for learning and teaching phonics, spelling, and vocabulary Bear and Templeton address two broad questions in this article: What is our understanding of spelling development and how does this understanding fit within a broader model of literacy development? And what are the implications of the developmental model for spelling instruction and word study?

Developmental Literacy Instruction with Struggling Readers across Three Stages

What do you do when you notice a student struggling to learn to read and write? The answer is axi... more What do you do when you notice a student struggling to learn to read and write? The answer is axiomatic: spend more time teaching the student; there is no other way. Struggling readers, even students with primary, organic, brain-related learning difficulties, follow a developmental trajectory and can make significant progress with a developmental, engaging and intense literacy program. In this paper, we reach into three stages of literacy development to discuss key recommendations to teach struggling readers. Case studies of students with language-related learning difficulties are discussed to illustrate students’ learning in the first three stages of development.
Stages of literacy development

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Opinion Pieces: What Is the Role of the Speech-Language Pathologist in Assessing and Facilitating Spelling Skills?

Topics in Language Disorders, 2000

EJ608040 - Opinion Pieces: What Is the Role of the Speech-Language Pathologist in Assessing and F... more

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