Describes the efforts of the language arts staff of the Edmonton (Canada) Public Schools to develop statements of student outcomes that were generalizable across grade levels and tests of writing achievement based on those outcomes. (FL)

Argues that a teacher must develop activities for the classroom with the uniqueness of a particular group of students in mind and that a set of activities that works in one setting should not become a static curriculum, uncritically adopted as a formula. (SRT)

Evaluates the new paradigm of learning and discusses its principles of context, process, individualization, and community. This method allows for the instruction of the full range of learners in a classroom because the emphasis is on learning how to learn and learning as a process. (NKA)

Traces a project that investigated the connection between reading and writing with oral language experiences such as oral history and folklore. (NKA)

Argues that if education for language development is to improve, the changes will have to take place in the classroom and that the change needed is to return control of classrooms to teachers. Also argues that for reform to endure, how systems respond to change must be understood. (SRT)

Discusses use of word processing software as an effective tool in writing and revision instruction, and describes the role of the teacher. Examples of exercises that encourage revision and of software designed to teach effective revision skills are reviewed. (MBR)

Outlines M. Halliday's theory of language production, which suggests that the form of oral and written language is determined by the context in which language is generated, and shows how it can be used as a basis for curriculum development. (Author/HOD)

Suggests that reading and writing are not only language competencies displayed in literacy or literature but that they are the sites for analysis in emergent literacies. (DF)

Discusses shifts in language/composition research over the past 20 years as they relate to an emerging consensus about English teaching. (SRT)

Describes demonstration grant project undertaken by the Rapid City South Dakota school district to determine whether computer assisted instruction (CAI) would be beneficial to Native American children. Discussion covers operation and results of the program, which offered CAI instruction in reading and language arts to students in grades three to…

Advocates the use of incidental vocabulary learning to assist students in vocabulary expansion and reading comprehension. Addresses the issues of the number of words students would have to know to make substantial gains and what type of word knowledge is necessary to facilitate reading comprehension. (ML)

Describes an enrichment program for preschool children which includes hands-on experiences with animals. Includes a chart with suggestions (large group activities, outdoor activities, science center activities, language and mathematics center activities, and arts/craft center activities) for the study of birds, insects, reptiles, mammals, trees…

Describes inadequate home literacy experiences of three children, noting that the home expects the school to educate the child and the school expects certain prerequisites of the home, but neither is aware of the other's expectations. Exhorts schools and teachers to communicate better the parents' role in early literacy education. (HTH)

Describes some of the activities teacher researchers are doing in their classrooms, focusing on ways they use language, literature, and literacy activities to examine their students' development as well as their own growth. Also outlines ways teachers organize and analyze their observations in an effort to make them somewhat systematic. (HOD)

The Young Historians project provides abundant opportunities for students in grades one through six to apply basic reading, writing, listening, speaking, and computing skills learned during reading and math and to learn firsthand about their own heritage and the many resources in their own community. (RM)