Examines the benefits of exchanging weekly letters among a teacher, first-grade students, and their parents during the school year. The teacher had the opportunity to model letter writing for the children and kept communication open with the parents. Parents were kept informed of their children's performance, and the children were involved in a…

Offers primary school teachers, supervisors, in-service specialists, and administrators guides for improving language instruction using a model that values teachers' professional judgment and encourages change in small, comfortable steps. These guidelines are used in the Tennessee State Department of Education Whole Language Pilot Project designed…

Presents a whole language model for teaching social studies that is helpful to students learning English-as-a-Second-Language. Outlines whole-language principles, and provides a lesson plan that incorporates these principles. Points out that such principles draw upon student experiences. (NL)

Presents two kindergarten teachers' accounts of the use of the whole language approach to children's learning in class. Describes the reading of a children's book to a public kindergarten class and the subsequent literacy-related activities. (BB)

Contends that the conflict between the traditional, textbook-dominated establishment and the supporters of the whole-language movement is nothing less than a revolution. Describes tenets of the whole-language approach as they apply to the overarching goals of the social studies curriculum. (CFR)

Researchers studied elementary teachers and students from bilingual Spanish/English classrooms, examining successful literacy practices for incorporation into bilingual teacher education programs. The paper investigates the impact of talking about literacy, learning about the code and other skills, writing/reading and meaning making, the social…

A study was conducted to determine the prevalence of the use of portfolios in selected public elementary schools. Participants were asked for demographic information and information about the amount of training they had in portfolio use and the perceived strengths and benefits, weaknesses and barriers they find in portfolio use. A questionnaire…

A study assessed and compared the effectiveness of two distinct approaches of bilingual education used within a single school district in El Paso (Texas). The program designs, one a traditional transitional bilingual and the other a bilingual immersion, were implemented under similar conditions of resources, school year length, class size, and…

This study sought to determine how retained first grade students function in a whole language classroom after meeting with failure in a traditional first grade setting. Data collection for the five retained students, plus six "at-risk" students, involved naturalistic observation. Reading began from language experience stories that the students…

This document presents the Project ALERT (Adult Literacy Enhanced & Redefined through Training) Workplace Literacy Project model. It describes each of the seven components of implementation: instructional delivery, staff development, recruitment, incentives, resources, organizational constraints, and union and management relations. Evaluation…

This digest examines changes that are involved in an elementary school library media program when the school's instructional methods move from a basic skills to a whole language approach. These changes are discussed in terms of three curricular foci--theme studies, process writing, and literature-based reading--and new demands that are placed on…

This sourcebook contains articles, resources, and sample teaching materials to assist practitioners implementing developmentally appropriate practices in the classroom. The first six parts of the sourcebook contain reprints of more than 40 journal articles, topical bibliographies and resource lists, and sample teaching materials. The topics of…

Mississippi's guide for instructional planning for the primary grades consists of six units and appended materials. Research principles incorporated into the guide include: (1) a project approach that encourages the study of specific topics; (2) an integrated language program based on use of children's literature for informal and formal…

The purpose of this review is to present an overview of the research literature relating to the acquisition of literacy. Its focus is on empirical studies that identify the processes underlying the acquisition of literacy, and the instructional strategies that are most effective in developing effective literacy. Its specific focus is on the…

A discussion of second language (L2) teaching focuses on how language teachers can transfer their training and experience in L2 instruction to instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL). Learners of L2s and of ESL pass through the same learning stages, and while the skills focus may be different, the process is the same. A variety of…