A group of readings devoted to ways of teaching language arts, this is an anthology of practical suggestions for the elementary school teacher. Excerpts are from a variety of sources such as journal articles, curriculum bulletins, and conference proceedings. The articles are non-technical and suggest procedures and techniques that the elementary…

THE RELATIONSHIP OF REACTIVE INHIBITION TO TEST PERFORMANCE AND TO ACHIEVEMENT IN READING, SPELLING, AND HANDWRITING WAS STUDIED. IN THIS STUDY, AS IN PREVIOUS WORK DONE BY HALL (1943), REACTIVE INHIBITION IS DEFINED AS THE ACCUMULATION OF A GRADUAL DECREASE IN THE LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE THAT RESULTS FROM THE PERFORMANCE ITSELF. WHEN GIVEN A LOW…

This study investigated verbal behavior of five third-grade children representing three cultural groups: Afro-American, Afro-Caribbean, and white. Ten sessions involving various language arts activities were tape recorded over a five-week period; session 7 was also videotaped. Sessions 3 to 10 involved group interaction across three interaction…

The purpose of this study was to determine the reactions of ninth-grade students to a three-week language arts minicourse program offered for three consecutive years at a junior high school in Minnesota. The students registered each year for one minicourse from a selection of approximately six. The courses were primarily activity centered and were…

Of the 47,000 bilingual pupils enrolled in the Chicago public schools, 39,000 were Spanish speaking. Many of these Spanish speaking students were in special bilingual programs. The success of one of these bilingual programs was evaluated by comparing two groups of Mexican American elementary pupils in the same school. One group was comprised of 14…

Presented is a curriculum guide for preschool programs serving both handicapped and nonhandicapped children. It is explained that the guide is intended to suggest classroom activities which will strengthen existing skills and encourage development of new skills. The guide presents information on objectives, materials and procedures for the…

Academic achievement gain scores (determined through the administration of standardized achievement tests) and socioeconomic data (determined by means of a confidential survey form) were gathered on 1567 randomly-sampled students in Grades 1-10 in a school representing a cross section of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Previous research suggested…

Providing opportunities for skill-building, creativity, and reading for content are major objectives of the "funny paper center." This multidisciplinary learning center uses comic strips as facilitators in the classroom. Suggestions are given for language arts, mathematics, science, social studies and art education. (Author/RK)

A study was carried out to extend the Spanish FLES program by integrating it into the language arts and social studies curriculum. The goals were to provide mini-courses integrating the three topics and to create a more positive attitude toward Spanish speakers and their culture. (Author/NCR)

Discusses the use of collaborative writing for children who are resistant to schooling--who are delayed developmentally for social, psychological, or biological reasons. Provides examples of collective writing centered around a novel created by a junior high school remedial class. (SKC)

Posing as an avuncular letter writer, the author discusses the problems faced by first-time teachers teaching fourth-grade composition. Proposes exercises to motivate children to write, communication inspiring ways to arrange classroom environment, guided free-writing assignments, and heuristics prompts for writing a fairy tale. (JG)

Reviews five software packages for use with school age children. Includes "Science Toolkit Module 2: Earthquake Lab"; "Adaptations and Identification"; "Geoworld"; "Body Systems II Series: The Blood System: A Liquid of Life," all for Apple II, and "Science Courseware: Life Science/Biology" for…

Considers the difficulties facing teachers concerning grades for students' writing. (FL)

Discusses the deficiencies of the various methods of evaluating children's writing, especially the writing of children for whom English is not the native language. (FL)

Analyzes the written language learning of kindergarten children as a transaction among writers, teachers, and the writing process and concludes that children, when given the opportunity to take risks with written language, create with semantic intent. (DF)