The ability to deal effectively with student differences is crucial to teaching reading. Teachers must address the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students in the regular classroom. The ability of teachers to handle differences effectively translates into instructional practices that provide for each student's self-respect and that…

Discusses, through the reflections of three educators, the need to address cultural diversity in the reading curriculum and the importance of using strategies consistent with an emergent literacy perspective throughout the early childhood years. (MG)

An elementary teacher who completed her preservice fieldwork with Hawaii's PETOM (Preservice Education for Teaching of Minorities) program discusses the experimental process she uses to teach students to read and to love reading. By presenting her diary, the article highlights her whole-language approach to teaching a love of reading. (SM)

This paper describes the development and implementation of a culture-based literature program to improve the reading skills and understanding of minority cultures in students with mild disabilities. Steps in developing such a whole language approach program include: (1) identifying the cultural groups to be studied; (2) choosing both fiction and…