Whole language versus phonics: the debate rages on over the proper techniques for teaching reading. Whole language is a child-centered, literature based approach to language teaching that will immerse the students in real communication. The reasons placed behind whole language teaching are based on linguistics, pedagogy, and psychology. In the…

Presents definitions of "whole language" and classroom organization/management. Describes several plans for organizing and managing a whole-language classroom. Presents a detailed example demonstrating how to organize and manage a whole-language primary classroom using a "modified blocked" approach. (SR)

Describes a year spent teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) in the elementary classroom using a whole-language approach in a nonthreatening environment with lots of writing and student ownership of text. (SR)

Offers reflections by a teacher educator who spent a year teaching a third-grade class. Discusses the realities of a teacher's internal decision-making process and day-to-day interactions with children in the classroom. Notes that uncertainty is what keeps the inquiry process going. (SR)

Discusses what happens when students and teachers are encouraged to use multiple ways of knowing in mediating their experiences with the world. Suggests that a good language arts program expands the communication potential of all learners through the orchestration and use of multiple ways of knowing for purposes of ongoing interpretation and…

Conveys the power of children's questions and highlights the process of questioning in a whole-language classroom. Suggests that the role of questions in the classroom talk demonstrated to the teacher the connections and relationships between discourse content and discourse structure. (RS)

Addressing the issues of how phonics is handled in whole language classrooms and the role that phonics plays in reading and learning to read, the content of this book is rooted in the language stories and literacy lessons of teachers' observations of at-risk children learning to read. The book begins with an introduction to one whole language…

A continuing longitudinal study examined students' perceptions of their learning and motivation in a whole language classroom setting. Subjects, 14 fifth- or sixth-grade students who collaborated in the inquiry as co-researchers, were interviewed in depth. The mixed fifth- and sixth-grade classroom at the "Willow School" in southern…

Emergent and beginning readers demonstrate many predictable behaviors in the kindergarten classroom, yet every child is making sense out of print in his or her own way. The job of the kindergarten teacher is to help each child to continue developing as a reader and writer. Reading and writing materials are accessible and usable throughout a…

Critical whole language practice, like any other pedagogy, is enacted within a particular time and place. We present several features of critical whole language practice (as distinguished from two other variants of critical education: critical literacy and critical pedagogy) and illustrate each with examples from one year in one elementary school…

This brief bulletin addresses seven "myths" of tracking or ability grouping with gifted students in response to what is seen as a current movement against both ability grouping and tracking, which are characterized by the "anti-tracking" movement as inflexible and unaccommodating of a varied schedule. The following myths are countered: (1)…

Describes a qualitative case study of the total classroom environment created by an exemplary whole-language teacher. Emergent categories and member checks indicated that the classroom environment was organized according to three major principles (collaboration, student independence, and student self-evaluation). This classroom environment is…

Describes the atmosphere and activities in a primary classroom in New Zealand that affect the literacy development of limited English-proficient children. Key factors are identified, including teacher expectations of success, whole language environment, and nurturing classroom climate. (two references) (Author/LB)

A teacher describes her initiation into secondary school English literature instruction, adoption of the whole-language approach before it had a name, and development of a curriculum with limited resources and minimal guidance. The author finds many classrooms still struggling with conventional instruction, and argues that the whole-language…

Defines and clarifies the whole-language approach to second-language instruction, discussing the process of shifting to the whole-language approach, use of the approach in secondary schools, and using student interests to shape the curriculum. A chart contrasts elements of the transmission philosophy of the traditional classroom and the…