1	from“The Period of Religious Emphasis in Reading Instruction” from American Reading Instruction by Nila Banton Smith, 2002, Newark, DE: IRA, pages 9-32
2	England and the Church Church of England moved from Catholicism to Protestantism Tenant of Protestantism was that everyone should think for him (him!)self Had to read in order to NOT let a priest or someone else provide a warped slant on Biblical teaching Martin Luther said, “…let the Scriptures to be the chief and most frequently used reading book.”
3	Schooling Schooling centered on religious teaching Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments Religious motives controlled reading instruction Purpose for learning to read was to children thorough grounding in their religious faith
4	Early American Settlers Usually deeply religious Were pursuing a religious freedom they did not experience in their homeland Religion permeated schooling experiences
5	1647 General Court of Massachusetts: “It being one chief point of that old deluder, Satan, to keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times, by keeping them in an unknown tongue, so in these latter times, by persuading from the use of tongues, that so at last the true sense of meaning of the original might be clouded by false glosses of saint-seeming deceivers, that learning might not be buried in the grave of our fathers in church and commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavors.
6	1647 continued “It is therefore ordered that every township in this jurisdiction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty householders, shall then forthwith appoint one within their town to teach all such children as shall resort to him to write and read.”
7	Hornbooks First instructional materials Use also for catechizing in church Stopped being used around the middle of 1700’s
8	First American Primer The New England Primer became standardized reading textbook during colonial days http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/nep/1777/index.htm
9	Spellers Competed with The New England Primer Function of spellers was to teaching spelling plus reading, religion, and morals A New Guide to the English Tongue contained 12 woodcuts which made it different from the primer and secular material
10	Spellers continued The Only Sure Guide to the English Tongue was similar Spellers foreshadowed change in reading pedagogy because they were a transition from religious text to more secular materials like stories, riddles, and dialogues
11	Methods of Teaching Reading Not much information about methods We can infer that one letter was taught at a time so that the child knows the alphabet and can name a letter when randomly pointed to Child could not progress to next letter until she/he could identify it in the alphabet Some teachers used pictures of an animal whose name began with the letter, but some people thought that was overwhelming for the child Others used a kind of flash card with the letter on one side and a picture on the other to motivate children to a “love of learning their books” (Hoole, 1660).
12	Syllabarium After learning alphabet child learned syllables like as, ba, be, bi, bo bu, etc. Child would proceed through the page on the hornbook and essentially memorize the letter combinations. A new page would then be added to hornbook
13	Description of Dame School Clifton Johnson in Old Time Schools and School Books writes that the teacher or “dame” “heard the smaller pupils recite their letters, and the older ones read and spell from their primers, [as] she busied her fingers with knitting and sewing, and in the intervals between lessons, sometimes worked at the spinning wheel.”
14	Primer Alphabet and syllabarium were preludes to reading “Real” reading happened when the child got to the primer where the child began with shortest words until she/he could pronounce them automatically Primer included Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and Ten Commandments plus other religious materials like psalms and prayers Memorization was primary method for teaching reading
15	Bible Once through primer, child could read Bible, often starting with Genesis or other histories from Bible (because they were thought to “delight” the child) New words were approached through spelling Passages were read and then child was orally quizzed on content Many passages memorized
16	Remember Purpose for learning to read was so that children could read the Bible Hoole writes “I have known some, that by hiring a child to read two or three chapters a day, and to get so many verses of it by heart, have made them admirable proficients, and that betimes, in the Scriptures.”
17	"Subject matter more important than..." Subject matter more important than any consideration of how to teach reading Techniques were learning alphabet, spelling syllables and words, memorizing sections of text, and oral reading All children learned alphabetical method
18	Oral Reading Very popular because there was a shortage of books Literacy rates were low—few people could read Uneducated family or community members would gather together in small groups in evening to listen to oral readings of Scriptures and other religious texts. Oral reading seen as valuable social skill