With the concise and readable "Brain Words," you will learn how children's brains develop as they become readers and discover ways you can take concrete steps to promote this critical developmental passage. Introducing their original, research-based framework of "brain words"--dictionaries in the brain where students store and…

Based on a diagnosis of the problems in the traditional way of teaching English reading in China, this paper introduces the "whole language" theory and explores its application to the teaching of English reading. To begin with, it demonstrates the various problems in the teaching of English reading which severely prevent the improvement…

Clarifies the term "emergent literacy" and reviews significant informal assessment techniques, record-keeping systems, and reporting measures appropriate for emergent literacy. Discusses guidelines for whole-language assessment. Suggests areas of evaluation to be considered for inclusion in a locally developed emergent literacy assessment system.…

This booklet discusses the "whole language" approach to language instruction, which teaches students "from whole to part" through the integration of the language processes of reading, writing, speaking, and listening with an emphasis on meaning and purpose. The booklet explains what whole language is, describes its use in the teaching/learning…

Finds that state-level textbook adoption committee members reported four major unresolved reading issues: (1) assessment of students' reading progress; (2) whole language versus basal approaches; (3) ability grouping; and (4) use of tradebooks in place of basals. Suggests that the members may lack sufficient specific knowledge of the issues to…

Presents a variety of literacy evaluation strategies devised and implemented by a teacher who is making the transition to whole language. (MG)

Reviews two recent professional publications concerning alternative assessment: "Portfolio Assessment in the Reading-Writing Classroom" and "Assessment and Evaluation in Whole Language Programs." (MG)

Maintains that continued over reliance on traditional skills-based assessment of reading abilities provides the whole-language teacher with little, if any, useful information for instructional planning. Suggests informal assessment procedures that focus on the language learner and provide a rich information source on which to base instructional…

A private day school, Willie Ross School for the Deaf, designed a whole-language approach to reading appropriate for deaf and hard-of-hearing children. This article compares traditional and psycholinguistic approaches to reading, describes the early childhood classroom environment, and presents a lesson using folktales. An assessment checklist is…

Outlines the main purposes of student evaluation. Suggests observation as an alternative to testing. Offers suggestions for keeping anecdotal records and a format for record sheets or class notebooks. Recommends that students keep records and maintain folders of their work. Cites an approach for teaching self-evaluation. Suggests helping students…

Twenty articles dealing with literacy published in the "American Annals of the Deaf" from 1996 to 2000 were reviewed. A movement away from the whole language approach to a more eclectic, analytic orientation was noted. Old problems in processing syntax continued. Questions regarding the value of captioning for deaf individuals with poor literacy…

This book shows elementary school teachers how to help students become confident readers and writers who can use skills they acquire throughout their lives, from a constructivist orientation. It is intended as a main text for an introductory course on elementary-school reading instruction, typically taken by undergraduates in their second or third…

A study reviewed the effects of the whole language movement. Two forms of analysis were used: meta-analysis, and a simple "vote-counting" procedure. Quantitative studies that compared a whole language and a traditional (or basal reading) approach, published between 1988 and 1993, were selected for analysis. A total of 45 studies were…

Designed to help teachers think about, analyze, and make decisions on literacy instruction, this book provides the conceptual framework and methodology to put the ideas of Lev Vygotsky into practice for classroom literacy instruction. The book claims that Vygotsky's ideas provide a cohesive framework and an operational model that teachers can use…

The 1993-94 school year was the first year of the Accelerating Literacy Program (ALP) of the Austin (Texas) Independent School District. The ALP used a grant from the Texas Education Agency to train elementary educators in the methods of a short-term reading intervention program based on the Reading Recovery/Whole Language theory. A group of 367…