Describes how using a flashlight to read language experience chart stories can provide a concrete way to build a foundation for many emergent reader concepts, such as directionality. (SR)

Presents the ideas of four elementary school classroom teachers with regard to reading instruction. Includes "An Invitation to Reading Fluency,""Reading Chapter Books for Fun,""Easing the K-1 Transition through Language Experiences," and "A Meeting of Minds: Teaching Using Biographies." (PRA)

After analyzing the leading theories on reading instruction and noting their advantages and limitations, this updated book presents a specific combined approach to reading instruction which draws on the proved strengths of older methods while avoiding their failures. This approach centers around training in effective use of the teacher-pupil…

Aimed at elementary school teachers interested in promoting their students' enjoyment of and skill in writing, this guide offers a number of ideas for writing activities. The guide focuses on the creative use of language and suggests ways in which students can be stimulated to write poems and stories, create metaphors, write descriptions of people…

Focusing on writing as a language process, this booklet describes a framework for writing instruction that has as a major consideration the totality of language. The first section discusses writing as a language process, emphasizing that as children learn to write, they can also learn to listen, speak, and read. The second section focuses on the…

The language experience approach (LEA) is a means of using the knowledge of language and one's life experiences to create materials for reading and thoughtful consideration. Therefore, LEA seems to be a viable approach to use both with students who are not familiar with the language used or experiences described in a textbook and with older…

Describes the steps in a Language Experience Approach (LEA) to teaching English-as-a-Second-Language lesson, suggests different starters and followup activities for LEA lessons, and indicates ways of handling some problems. (seven references) (Author)

Creative dramatics can be used effectively by the elementary teacher to help motivate students to become involved in various language arts activities. Dramatic play, pantomime, story dramatization, imagination exercises, creative movement, improvisation, and other structured activities encourage students to relate new experiences to old. As they…

The inclusion of talk, written language, and body language are critically important in primary classrooms. Although reading and writing may be regarded as cognitive activities, they are embedded in a social/cultural milieu, and the practice of mechanical decoding as a necessary precedent to real reading is not pedagogically sound. A whole class…

Arguing that reading and writing in school should be natural and enjoyable for children, this book is based on the Piagetian theory that knowledge is constructed by each individual and the psycholinguistic view that learning takes place best when viewed as holistic and when instructional materials for children are authentic and purposeful. The…

A kindergarten teacher, two preservice teachers, and a college consultant on educational computer technology designed and developed a 10-day whole-language integrated unit on the theme of Beatrix Potter's "Benjamin Bunny." The project was designed as a demonstration of the potential of integrating the CD-ROM-based version of…

To help students practice and manipulate a newly learned language, games that help the teacher create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful are presented in this book. The introduction provides answers to questions teachers may have--including why and for whom games are useful--and also offers practical pointers for explaining…

Undergraduate education students can often discuss the language experience approach intelligently, listing advantages and disadvantages with ease, but express bewilderment when it comes time in a reading practicum class to actually use the approach with a child. A teaching guide can serve as an aid to those students who have previously studied the…

When working with limited English proficient (LEP) children who have been mainstreamed into regular elementary school classrooms, teachers must keep in mind that the first order of business is to help the students build a store of knowledge about English--how it sounds, what it looks like in print, and what it means. Teachers will discover that it…

The curriculum for the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) English as a Second Language (ESL) and technical classes is a collection of instructional materials and suggestions focusing on workplace-related topics and issues. This guide is intended for use in classes where one technical and one ESL teacher are present and where…