Expands the usual notion of critical reading from just the judgments readers make about the text to include judgments they make about their "reading" of the text. Describes activities to develop "executive" metacomprehension skills. (HTH)

Reviews research on the relationship between the receptive language arts skills (reading and listening), on the relationship between the expressive skills (writing and speaking), and on the relationships between receptive and expressive skills. Reports on teaching materials that reflect these interrelationships. (RL)

Describes a longitudinal study of first-grade students' progress in learning punctuation. Examines the classroom as a writing environment, then presents a picture of the children's progress in learning to use apostrophes, quotation marks, and periods, drawing several implications for teaching. (HTH)

Shows how children's use of explicit oral language is related to success in learning to read and writing. Outlines a technique to teach the use of explicit language through dramatic play. (HTH)

Discusses the measurable benefits in reading improvement, language skills, listening skills, and access to material beyond present skills that children receive from teachers reading aloud. Includes guidelines for successfully reading aloud in the classroom and a brief bibliography of sources of good books to read aloud. (HTH)

Describes how elementary school teachers encouraged poor readers and writers by having them--and the whole class--keep journals on topics they knew more about than anyone else in the class and then read the entries aloud. Discusses a three-step process approach to writing instruction derived from this successful method. (HTH)

Deplores the preoccupation with isolated skill teaching among reading teachers. Calls for reading competencies to be taught in the context of reading that has meaning, interest, and significance for the reader, and stresses the importance of instruction in the thinking strategies that contribute to mature reading. (ET)