Outlines teaching strategies developed in an inservice program for elementary teachers in rural areas of Bolivia; notes the importance of developing children's oral language skills, using the local environment as the basis for language experience lessons, and including community study in the curriculum. Presents ideas useful to teachers in other…

Discusses the development of drama as a learning tool for children's language development. Applies James Britton's methods of language classification to the construction of functional categories of language that operate within the framework of drama and creative dramatics. (RL)

Describes a method of beginning reading instruction that makes use of stories (such as "Goldilocks and the Three Bears") already known by children, and cites research studies that provide support for such a method. (GT)

The use of invented spelling in educational programs for students with deafness is described. Students use a variety of spelling strategies, such as visual, kinesthetic, sounding out, handshape in sign language, and functional spellings. Methods of encouraging risk taking in spelling are discussed, and the changing use of spelling tests is noted.…

Because reading is first and foremost a language comprehension process focusing on the visual form of spoken language, such teaching strategies as language experience and assisted reading have much to offer beginning readers. These techniques have been slow to become accepted by many adult literacy instructors; however, the two strategies,…

Young learners need a quality program for developing reading skills which is both sequential and holistic--sequential because there is an appropriate order to some skills, holistic because skills need to be incorporated in context. Word recognition techniques are thus integrated with ideas gleaned from reading. The learner should use acquired…

A language-experience approach to teaching children to solve story problems is described. (JT)

Use of the whole language theory can improve the reading and writing of the language-learning disabled. This paper describes resource room characteristics necessary to create a whole language-learning environment and outlines instructional practices consistent with whole language theory, such as reading aloud, language experience approach,…

Suggests that, by adding LEA, individualized reading, and varied language arts activities to the basic reading program, teachers, helped by parent aids and peer tutors, can enliven reading instruction. (FL)

Of the various theories about how to treat black dialects, the approach by way of appreciating dialect differences is now in favor. (JH)

This guide is one in a series of thematic units designed especially for deaf and hard of hearing children in kindergarten through elementary grades. The series is grounded on the principle that language instruction for these children needs to be repetitive, visual, and taught in a myriad of contexts. It utilizes the language experience approach…

Discusses how microcomputers can stimulate invention in composition, through electronic mail, text analysis, and word processing programs. Describes two exploratory studies designed to examine the feasibility of using a word processor for language experience and sentence-combining activities in the elementary school classroom. (HTH)

Eight steps are outlined for presenting a combined science/language experience unit to primary students, in which the children observe and discuss a phenomenon and dictate a group report. Sample projects with fossils, magnets, and air pressure are described. (SJL)

Two interventions, both using repeated readings combined with a simple error correction technique and precision teaching, were used with two at-risk elementary students to improve their oral reading skills. Both interventions (language experience approach stories and passages from a basal reading program) worked equally well. (JDD)

This article explores ways to enhance oral discussions to increase the written language abilities of students with learning disabilities. It discusses oral and written language differences, and offers specific strategies for improving oral narrative skills within the Language Experience Approach (LEA), such as using semantic maps and teaching…