A CONFERENCE WAS HELD TO IMPROVE AND EXPAND A FUSED CURRICULUM IN BEGINNING READING. THE CURRICULUM HAD BEEN DEVELOPED AND TENTATIVELY EVALUATED AS PART OF "PROJECT LITERACY," A BASIC RESEARCH AND CURRICULUM-DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM IN AREAS OF EDUCATION RELEVANT TO THE ACQUISITION OF LITERACY SKILLS. THE FOCUS OF THE CURRICULUM WAS ON A TOTAL LITERATE ENVIRONMENT FOR DEVELOPING NOT ONLY THE CHILD'S BASIC READING SKILLS, BUT HIS HANDWRITING, PHONICS, AND LISTENING SKILLS AS WELL. THE TOPICS EXPLORED AND DEVELOPED IN THE CONFERENCE WERE--(1) CODE MEDIUMS FOR RELATING WRITTEN LANGUAGE TO SPEECH, (2) METHODS FOR DETERMINING AND INSURING READING READINESS IN PRESCHOOL PROGRAMS, (3) ABILITIES NEEDED BY YOUNG CHILDREN BEFORE BEGINNING FORMAL READING INSTRUCTION, (4) LEARNING LETTER AND SOUND CORRESPONDENCES, (5) APPROACH TO AND SEQUENCING OF HANDWRITING INSTRUCTION, (6) CHOOSING AND PREPARING READING MATERIALS, (7) CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION AND ABILITY GROUPING, (8) COMBINING COUNTING, SORTING, AND MATCHING, SIZE CONCEPTUALIZATION, AND OTHER LEARNINGS WITH READING, (9) OVERALL GOALS OF READING INSTRUCTION, AND (10) THE USE OF TECHNICAL AIDS IN THE CLASSROOM. A RELATED REPORT IS AA 000 023. (JH)