Reading is a tool for learning. The goal for the teaching of reading must be to produce lovers of reading. A holistic approach should replace exclusive dependence on basal readers. Effective methods are the following: (1) language experience approach; (2) word banks; (3) pattern books; (4) sustained silent reading; and (5) directed…

For an entire school year, two low-achieving severely learning disabled third-grade students ("Billy" and "Bonny") spent 30 minutes each day working with a Resource Room teacher on a variety of holistic activities. Activities were added, discarded, or modified to maximize the children's motivation and success. "Cut-up sentences" were used early in…

Describes a program in a first grade classroom in a rural school district which integrates holistic and direct instructional ideas by using the basal reader as one part of an otherwise holistic literacy program. Presents the major benefits of and some concerns about the program. (RS)