Lists suggestions for implementing a reading-for-meaning instructional approach that focuses on the development and comprehension of language. (FL)

Presents examples of young children using written language. Shows teachers and parents what they can learn from children's developing sense of written language. Suggests activities by which parents and teachers can spur child language development. (RL)

Presents a method, based on the language experience approach, for informal diagnosis of young children's awareness of the technical aspects of print. (FL)

Contributors offer the following suggestions: use the language experience approach with adult beginning readers, remediate adolescent reading attitudes via parents, force students to think through self-propelled reading lessons, and establish a teacher workshop using the participants' content area textbooks. (HTH)

Demonstrates briefly the naturalness of dialect variation in American English, examines the implications for reading instruction of recognizing the naturalness of dialects, and provides a list of references for the professional development of teachers of children who speak dialects other than standard English. (ET)

Suggestions are made for a five-day cycle of activities that can be used with primary students to reinforce language from stories they've dictated. Some activities are teacher-directed, while others can be completed independently. The activities can also be adapted to group-dictated stories. (Author/SJL)

The whole-language learning approach is applied to the teaching of writing skills to children with disabilities. Oral storytelling is the basis for an eight-step procedure which progresses from hearing a storyteller through writing a class story and on to publishing and storytelling. (DB)

A model is offered for building the vocabulary skills of students with deafness or hearing impairments. The model is based on Piaget's theoretical concepts of assimilation and accommodation. The model presents six sequenced steps for learning new vocabulary and suggests using the Language Experience approach, environmental print, predictable…

The South Metropolitan Association Communication Development Program in Flossmoor, Illinois, developed a language-oriented program that improved reading and writing proficiency of students with communication disorders. The program involves development and reading of language experience stories, role playing, vocabulary development, and other…

The Language Experience Approach (LEA) to teaching reading in English as a second language is described. LEA uses the student's own experiences, vocabulary, and language patterns to create texts for reading instruction. Three stages are defined for assessing learners' levels of language use. The LEA instructional procedures are designed to be…

The author, a university professor, describes his experiences in teaching language to his autistic-like son who also has visual impairments. "Experience Language," an adaptation of Language Experience Approach (LEA) is described, and its contributions to the child's reading, writing, and talking are noted. Suggestions are made on the importance of…

In accordance with current recommendations concerning teaching reading to kindergarten children, this paper presents a kindergarten reading curriculum. Included are a description of major instructional techniques, a time-line illustrating how instruction might evolve across the school year, and finally, a battery of informal tasks for assessing…

Vocabulary development, operationally defined as the isomorphism between an individual's store of concepts and the labels society uses to represent those concepts, is akin to concept development. Therefore, vocabulary development can be facilitated if presented in clusters of related concepts. One approach used to reinforce such basic concept…

Research in psycholinguistics and learning theory is reviewed to support the integration of oral and written language skills, and the language experience approach (LEA) is recommended for secondary school second language instruction. This approach incorporates listening, speaking, reading, and writing in purposeful communication. Students use the…

Suggests a variety of class activities using word banks. (MKM)