THE NEBRASKA ELEMENTARY ENGLISH CURRICULUM IS BASED ON THE PREMISE THAT DESIRE TO READ, UNDERSTANDING OF ONE'S NATIVE LANGUAGE, AND COMPETENCE IN COMPOSITION DEVELOP FROM A CONTINUING EXPOSURE TO LITERATURE OF SUPERIOR QUALITY. THE SEQUENCE OF LITERARY WORKS AND ANALOGOUS COMPOSITIONS LEADS THE CHILD FROM AN APPREHENSION OF THE "MYTHIC" AND ANTHROPOMORPHIC TO AN AWARENESS OF THE REALISTIC AND ANALYTIC. AN ORAL APPROACH TO LITERATURE IS STRESSED. CHILDREN ARE ENCOURAGED NOT ONLY TO ENJOY AND UNDERSTAND WHAT IS READ, BUT ALSO TO MANIPULATE LANGUAGE DEVICES THEMSELVES THROUGH ORAL STORYTELLING AND WRITTEN COMPOSITION. LITERATURE IS CLASSIFIED IN ONE OF NINE "PSEUDO-GENRES"--FOLK TALES, FANCIFUL TALES, ANIMAL STORIES, ADVENTURE STORIES, MYTHS, FABLES, OTHER LANDS AND PEOPLES, BIOGRAPHIES, AND HISTORICAL FICTION. EACH OF THE 70 UNITS IN THE SIX GRADES CONTAINS (1) INTRODUCTORY MATERIALS OUTLINING OBJECTIVES OF THE UNIT AND RELATING IT TO OTHER UNITS, (2) BACKGROUND MATERIALS ABOUT AUTHORS, CHARACTERS, THEMES, AND STYLE, (3) SUGGESTIONS FOR INDUCTIVE TEACHING PROCEDURES, (4) RELATED COMPOSITION, LANGUAGE, AND POETRY EXERCISES AND ASSIGNMENTS, (5) BIBLIOGRAPHIES FOR STUDENTS AND TEACHERS, AND (6) LISTS OF AUDIOVISUAL AIDS. IN GRADE ONE, CHILDREN ARE INTRODUCED TO LITERATURE IN ALL "PSEUDO-GENRES" EXCEPT HISTORICAL FICTION. TEACHING PROCEDURES EMPHASIZE IDENTIFICATION OF REPETITIVE SITUATION AND WORD PATTERNS IN LITERATURE AND RECOGNITION OF MEANING IN SIMPLE STORY FORMS. DRAWING UPON WHAT THEY LEARN FROM CLASS READING AND THEIR EXPLORATIONS IN LANGUAGE, CHILDREN ARE THEN ABLE TO DRAMATIZE SCENES AND COMPOSE STORIES OF THEIR OWN. THIS MANUAL IS AVAILABLE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS, 215 NEBRASKA HALL, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 68508. (SEE ALSO TE 000 054 AND TE 000 055.) (JB)