Describes the related processes of metaphoric production and comprehension as they are represented by students in the five-to-eleven year age range. Offers guidelines for incorporating the exploration of metaphor in elementary school language programs. (HTH)

Recalls childhood experiences which influenced the author in becoming a writer and a teacher. Explores the symbolic power humans wield with language, which extends from a single word to a phrase to a whole story. (MG)

Presents a perspective on the system of language levels and logical operations that effective language users employ. Offers a rational for teaching this language system. Suggests activities for "moving language around" to help students develop concepts about language structures. (RL)

Illustrates how children constantly solve communication puzzles in the course of language acquisition and offers suggestions for teachers and parents to assist children in their understanding of language. (HTH)

Considers how textual and digital visual worlds come together to create new ways of thinking about text and the nature of representation. Compares the graphic space of the printed page and the digital space of screen displays. Argues that each of these two mediums supports a distinctive yet vital way of thinking and that neither can be dispensed…

Presents conversations of a group of fifth graders collaborating on a social studies task to illustrate how childen use language to learn. Focuses on one student whose oral language was rapid and chaotic but who demonstrated extremely sophisticated and complex structuring of knowledge to understand a particular social studies concept. (HTH)

Argues that composing and comprehending are process-oriented thinking skills that are basically interrelated, and suggests ways that these skills can be taught. (JL)

Describes a project where children follow the natural progression of becoming literate in their native language (Spanish) before developing literacy in the language of the school. Demonstrates the manner in which social interaction is part of literacy acquisition at the early stages. (MG)