This paper argues that literature-centered reading programs, based on the perspective that reading is the process of bringing meaning to print, are in the best interest of the language minority students in the nation's elementary schools. After a review of basal reading systems and language-centered reading programs, the paper describes the…

Activities in this teacher's guide for unit one of a Spanish Language Arts curriculum for first graders are grouped into structured reading and listening (related comprehension and interpretation skills for each), and oral language development and language-experience reading. Three small picture books for students (brief Spanish…

Integrating reading and writing at the primary level is important because writing and then reading back what has been written gives purpose to both, and the sense of overall purpose enhances reading while the sense of audience enhances writing. Another reason for starting this integration with beginning students is that writing creates a purpose…

Creating a link between current research findings and classroom practice, this book analyzes, compares, and critiques prevalent classroom strategies in beginning reading instruction in light of expertise available in other countries. The book begins with a section on "Points of Departure," consisting of three chapters:…

Instructional and assessment activities in language arts are presented in this teacher's guide to unit two of a Spanish language arts curriculum for first graders. Focus, objective, and materials for each activity are given in English and Spanish, with teacher instructions only in Spanish. Four small picture books for students (brief Spanish…

This guide is intended to assist teachers and volunteer tutors who are teaching adults and teenagers to read. The nature and extent of the adult illiteracy problem and the process of learning to read are discussed in the first chapter. The characteristics that are desirable in basic reading tutors and those that are encountered in adult learners…

This document describes a literacy project in rural Ecuador using a modified version of Sylvia Ashton Warner's language experience approach. This method allows learners to approach written culture on their own terms by learning words important to their life, then transferring these works to sentences and stories. The approach reduces the rural…

This book presents state-of-the-science research on the components of successful literacy learning and how to target them in contemporary classrooms. The volume builds on and extends the work of Steven Stahl, whose pioneering contributions encompassed the key areas of phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and assessment.…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 21 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: the effect of music programs on reading ability; a coordinated laboratory-classroom approach to the teaching of reading; teachers' attitudes toward the language…

As in kits one through eight, the Spanish Language Arts teacher's guide for kits 9-12 presents activities in oral language development, language-experience reading, structured reading, and comprehension and interpretation skills. The school is the basic theme of this third unit. Four small picture books for students (brief Spanish…