Reviews literature defining the characteristics of the complex puzzle children encounter moving from oral language to print. Illustrates that, by reading their own writing, children discover the precise connection between reading, writing, and language. (HTH)

It is useful to stress the similarity of the linguistic system that underlies oral and written language, but the whole language approach fails to take into account the real and significant differences that exist between oral and written language and the different purposes for which they are used. Children need explicit guidance and support in…

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…

The level of mastery of selected language forms among English as a second language students in Botswana was investigated. Eighty-four pupils in the third to the sixth year of formal education provided oral English samples in unstructured formats involving language experience stories. The oral language of the pupils was analyzed to establish the…

Children can acquire written language skills and abilities through the natural process by which they acquire oral language. If as infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, children are exposed to rich print environments, they transfer assumptions from experiences with oral dialogue to the more focused situations of print. Discrepancies in the ease with…

Described in this manual are numerous skills-based oral language activities for Head Start and kindergarten children and for students in first through sixth grades. Activities are sequentially organized at four levels; all levels include activities in the areas of auditory discrimination, auditory memory, communication, syntax, description, and…

Intended for the language arts teacher, this book focuses on how to develop children's language skills. The opening chapter of the book presents a brief overview of child language acquisition, children's language abilities at a particular age, and how these abilities develop. The second chapter, on the importance of children's literature, is based…

Suggests that limited English speaking students' oral language can be developed by using pictures and concrete referents and then by using the language experience approach to teach English reading. (FL)

The discussion and activities in this booklet are designed to "tune in" language arts teachers to children's language so that they appreciate and respond properly to student language development. Chapter topics include responding to authentic/inauthentic child language, keeping records of children's spontaneous language and relating the words to…

Describes various activities designed for use in the reading classroom, including (1) cooperative learning activities; (2) reading and writing activities; (3) ways to improve comprehension; and (4) ways to encourage independent reading. (FL)

Beginning braille readers may benefit from an integrated-literacy curriculum which reflects the interrelationships of oral language, reading, and writing, and stresses the pleasurable and purposeful aspects of literacy. Integrating braille materials into daily curriculum activities can assist students to make the read/write connection and to begin…

Describes and provides examples of how storytelling can help develop children's language ability. Argues that the goal is not to teach children language but to create an environment that will allow language learning to occur naturally. (SRT)

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…

Prepared as part of a series applying recent research in oral and written communication instruction to classroom practice, this booklet describes several classroom-based studies that have examined children's writing development and synthesizes what they have shown about the process. The first section of the booklet analyzes the term "writing…

This report gives a history of the 1979-80 segment of a continuing project that is designed to provide a theoretically based description of children's transition from prereading to reading, along with tools that teachers may use to assess children's emerging literacy abilities. The first chapter provides an introduction to the project, while the…