The author's career in professional education is intertwined with the history of language arts education in the United States and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). The author joined NCTE in the 1960s, though she was already teaching for about 10 years with a well-developed constructivist perspective on teaching and learning.…

Describes a weekly meeting of a collaborative elementary school teacher support group in Ohio. Triangular conferencing, which involves parent-teacher-student and is student-led, is the subject of the meeting. Also describes visits to elementary classrooms where new ways to teach reading and writing are implemented with input from Regie Routman,…

Discusses the importance of using letter writing to promote whole-language learning. Suggests ideas and actions, and provides examples of children's literature that uses the letter format, to weave letters and letter writing into the whole-language curriculum. (BAC)

Offers seven practical suggestions, which can be adapted to any grade level, for extending one's classroom to the outdoors. (MG)

Whole language supports a grass-roots approach to teaching through student writing that combines reading and writing across the curriculum with literature and interdisciplinary units. The whole-language approach has great value at the middle level but is time-consuming and requires considerable staff development and administrator support. (MLH)

This collection of writings by trade book authors, public school teachers, and college-faculty offers support for using children's literature in history education. Divided into three parts, the Introduction asks "Why Teach History to the Young?" (Terrie L. Epstein). Part 1, "The Creative Process," addresses the process of writing and illustrating…

This book details the studio setting of a history workshop in which learners discuss the meaning of artifacts, oral history transcriptions, historical photographs, and other firsthand sources from the past. Teachers facilitate interactions among children and play the role of elders, guiding younger learners as they explore a variety of historical…

Investigates primary classrooms where teachers implemented recommended literacy practices such as: (1) frequently using children's literature; (2) integrating reading and writing; and (3) teaching skills in context. Finds students developed reading and writing skills at higher levels than students in classrooms where teachers used other practices.…

Describes a whole-language, interdisciplinary summer program for school and college teachers. From hands-on exploration and reading and writing about self-selected topics, participants learned to understand theory and practice of whole-language instruction and to explore implications for their own teaching. (SM)

Presents ideas on integrating science fiction into language arts, science, social studies, and math. Suggestions include an interstellar journey, imaginative language lessons, futuristic social studies, extraterrestrial life studies, intergalactic math, and science fiction story writing. (SM)

A teacher who had directed a K-12 language arts program at the Alamo Navajo Reservation in Magdalena, New Mexico employed problem-solving skills that involved the affective domain as well as the sensory-motor areas important to education even in older children. This teacher's classrooms are heterogeneously grouped. A thematic approach is used…

Having students work together to write a historical novel is one way to integrate language arts and social studies. A step-by-step approach to completing such a writing project includes reading to get ready, brainstorming, developing a plot, adding descriptive detail, writing and revising, and final editing and typing. (SM)

A field-tested instruction and assessment model is described that fosters development of second-language skills by integrating writing with listening, speaking, reading, and problem solving. The model draws upon elements of process-oriented instruction, whole language learning, cooperative learning, cognitive mapping, and reading and writing…

"Think Big" is a thematic literary unit, using literature about elephants in a holistic way and attempting to cross the curriculum into the content areas of science and math. It is a way of expanding the basal reading series and providing appropriate and supportive instruction in a cooperative, more interactive learning environment. To…

A group of reading teachers at a Pennsylvania middle school was charged with developing a uniform reading program and selecting reading materials to meet their students' needs. This article describes the committee's work, focusing on the selection and adaption of a whole-language basal-reading program that incorporates writing and other language…