This program, included in "Effective Reading Programs...," serves 879 first- and second-graders, plus one fourth-grade class. The students are predominantly middle-class whites living in a small city. The program is an initial reading program designed to complement any basal reading series. The instructional strategy is based on the premise that the children will best learn to read with materials that are meaningful to them and employ their own vocabulary and syntax. The program encourages students to tape-record many stories or experiences that are important to them. Typed copies are returned to the children and put into their folders, which then become personalized readers. When the children receive their typed stories, they may choose to share them with their teacher or their peers, or simply to read them to themsleves. Sometimes a small group of the entire class uses the blackboard to describe a special class activity; this helps students to build sentences and talk about a main idea. Another strategy encouraging self-expression is a daily journal. Read-aloud literature is often used to foster appreciation of books and to stimulate children to create stories on their own. The program is designed to prevent reading problems that might require later remediation. (WR)