Focuses on materials that would be appropriate for use in campus after-school programs; in programs at neighborhood, community, or church resource centers; or in the home for family literacy. Discusses the value of creating literacy backpacks or writing suitcases that go back and forth between the home and the school. (SG)

Describes uses of the microcomputer that can encourage the discovery that written language is meaningful, purposeful, and worthwhile. (FL)

Discusses the advantages of dialogue journal writing in elementary education. Describes the organization of dialogue journal writing in a sixth grade classroom, noting that dialogue journals provide an ideal tool of empowerment for both students and teachers, and enable teachers to integrate reading and writing in a whole language approach. (MM)

Notes the challenges faced as teachers, concerning policy, curriculum, or control, require that educators address three issues: their multiple identities in and out of schools, their will to act on their convictions, and their abilities to respect diversity. (SG)

Investigates the teacher's role in a whole language classroom. Asserts that explicit written guidelines concerning the teacher's role in directing and supporting student learning should be available for novice teachers in training and for experienced teachers who want to shift from a conventional approach to a whole language approach. (MM)

Traces the importance of authorship in literacy development, and shows how authorship can become one focus of a whole language classroom. (MM)

Highlights the teacher's critical role in spelling instruction and provides examples of how to support spelling development in classrooms. Argues that educators need to look closely at children's emerging capacities as writers, focusing especially on the issue of invented spelling, and its use and misuse in classroom practices. (SG)

Describes how the purpose of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) is to provide "a steady and consistent strategy" for raising standards in literacy over a 5- to 10-year period. Discusses reading and writing in the Literacy Hour and evaluation of the strategy. Notes that the NLS in England has been successful to a point. (SG)

Discusses three different types of databases: utility database programs, add-on databases, and stand-alone databases. Describes how databases motivate students' reading and writing. (MM)

Discusses finding grant money for computer technology for whole language classrooms. Offers advice on writing grants. (SR)

Recognizes the critical role parents play in helping young children become successful readers and writers. Describes how the Even Start program encourages families to host a party for a small group of friends and family in their home to help families gain access to the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to create a literate environment in…

Discusses the role that word processors play in whole language classrooms, and shares four advantages that "FrEdWriter" (a word-processing program) offers over commercial versions. (MG)

Presents eight guidelines to consider when using computers for language instruction, emphasizing computer use in a social and purposeful context. Suggests computer software which adheres to these guidelines. (MM)

Suggests that parents who understand how written language development resembles oral language development are more willing to accept whole language instruction. Offers teachers suggestions on how to convince parents of this similarity. (ARH)

Discusses the Young Authors Program, a program sponsored by the Greater Boston Reading Council, which encourages teachers to help students create original illustrated bound books. (MM)