The three Summer Institute articles in this publication urge teachers of English language arts to base their teaching on an awareness of how language operates and on an understanding of children's needs. Among the topics dealt with are the central role of literature in the English curriculum, the need for teachers to attend to children and accept the language they use, and ways of helping children to build representations of reality and to internalize the structural forms of written language. A fourth article discusses language arts teaching in open plan elementary schools. (GW)