This paper aims to take stock of the acquisitions achieved by evidence-based research on teaching to read, to compare them with the teaching practices, as they emerge from the school textbooks proposed by the publishing houses in Italy. Moving from the importance recently assumed by scientific research on effective teaching and the need to avoid risks and misunderstandings that can be generated for its use in practice, the evidence acquired about the teaching of reading and writing is presented, recalling the need to focus on the grapheme-phoneme correspondence to be acquired by children in a progressive, systematic and explicit way. It is then pointed out that the textbooks in use propose approaches in clear contrast with this finding. The second part focuses on the experimental researches conducted in Italy in recent years, congruent with the framework previously indicated, which achieve better effectiveness and high motivation in all pupils. Particular attention is paid to the national research conducted recently by the Association S.Ap.I.E.
What’s in a flash?: Teaching reading and writing (and beyond) through flash fiction
