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Period: to
1940 - 1969
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Fun with Dick and Jane
Fun with Dick and Jane TextThe Dick and Jane series were highly popular books for children from the 1930s -1960s. They helped children learn to read through the whole word approach. As can be see in the earlier editions, the books were not very diverse culturally. -
Pearl Harbor
The bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese leads to the United States' involvement in WWII. -
Bombing of Japan
Baby BoomThe bombing of Japan lead to the end of WWII. After the end of the war and soldiers returned home, many babies were born, which would lead to an increase in the number of students enrolling in schools a few years later. -
Baby Boomers Enter School
WIth an increase in the number of students entering school, some schools were not prepared and classroom sizes were very large, which would make instruction of all subjects difficult. -
Brown v. Board of Education
The court case lead to the integration of public schools. They ruled that separate schools were not equal and unconstitutional according to the 14th Amendment. -
Why Johnny Can't Read (1955) - Rudolph Flesch
History of Reading NewsFlesch published this book to criticize the literacy approach of whole word reading instruction, which had been a dominant practice in the 1940s and 1950s. The publication was partly a result of political tensions betweeen the United States and other communist countries. -
Phonics Approach
PhonicsIn the late 1950s and into the 1960s, there was a transition from whole word to a phonics approach, though neither were completely dominant. -
Now We Read (1965)
Integrated BookThis was a revised version of the 1962 edition of the Dick and Jane series, and it featured a new cast of characters: an African-American family (Mike, twin sisters Penny and Pam, and their parents). The characters and pictures changed, but not the whole word approach.
