A modification of the language experience approach in which meaningful experiences form the basis for evoking language is illustrated with an autistic person. (CL)

Six conceptions prevail about the language experience approach (LEA) although research and practical experience have proven them false. (1) "LEA does not teach basic skills." If basic skills are defined as communication competence, LEA teaches basic communication skills as well as the mechanics of communication. (2) "A language experience…

Values clarification strategies or activities in which children explore, list, order, and code their experiences and thoughts, combined with language experience techniques, can provide meaningful reading situations. Values strategies function as affective mobilizers to bring a child's attitudes and emotions into interaction with learning…

Explores two factors which can help teachers in guiding students who have difficulty reading their textbooks--understanding the reasons why students have problems and finding some way to teach the subject content and reading at the same time. (JM)

Teachers can encourage students to see reading as meaning-making in a number of ways. Context support methods begin by ensuring that the context is already familiar to students so that word recognition is made easier. Language experience approaches encourage children to learn to read by first reading what they have produced. Real books, as…

An approach to spelling instruction allows students to select spelling words as part of a whole-language, language experience writing program. Guidelines for implementing such a program are offered. (CL)

Discusses the effect of previous knowledge on reading comprehension. Suggests reading instruction methods that evoke the readers' experiences, or schemata, relevant to the material. (HTH)

Based on the theory that learning takes place if the learner is able to relate new knowledge to something already known, the course of study described in this booklet consists of recording stories dictated by individual students and using these stories as a basis for teaching reading and creative writing to students from preschool through adult…

Most content area teachers face a common problem--students who cannot read their textbooks or who do so with difficulty. Before they can provide help for such students, teachers must first try to understand the reasons why the students have reading problems and then they must find some way to teach subject content and reading at the same time.…

Reading and writing instruction for gifted students should address their actual use in meaningful contexts. Reading instruction should emphasize use of authentic materials, modified use of basals, divergent student responses, etc. Writing instruction should emphasize writing as a tool for learning, function before form, and opportunities for…

The teaching of poetry can be used as a language experience approach to develop good writing skills in elementary and high school students. This paper discusses the techniques a "poet-in-residence" employed to help students create poems and, indirectly, to teach the function of such writing skills as parts of speech, punctuation, and…

An overview of the language experience approach and suggestions for implementing it at all levels of instruction are presented in this booklet. Based on the assumption that it is impossible to isolate reading instruction from other language functions, a multimethod approach is described which focuses on the linguistic, conceptual, and perceptual…

Many schools require that the U.S. history course be taught in English so that second language learners from all language groups can participate on an equal footing. Described are activities which will make the textbook more comprehensible to these pupils for whom English is a second language. (RM)

Language activities based on connectivity, or social links between people and their experiences, can create a sense of history and belonging in a classroom community and can establish the foundation for educational curriculum. Levels of connectivity and their impact on educational curriculum are examined through a classroom example of…

Rather than concentrate on ritual language and stock phrases, second-language teachers should utilize the language experience approach to help children develop more natural communication in active learning situations, using realistic settings and materials. (six references) (MDM)