Describes a program in which five children (ages 8-13), including two with profound deafness, were taught English using whole language strategies combined with mini lessons in grammatical structure. The lessons were reinforced with assigned written language practice for classwork and homework, which was incorporated into the students' journals.…

A practicum was designed to increase the writing opportunities of 37 prekindergarten children in three classes through staff development. Formal and informal surveys of prekindergarten teachers confirmed the need for more information on child development, the development of the writing process, and prekindergarten whole language. A series of…

A teacher at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf (District of Columbia) recounts how she learned to use the Whole Language approach to writing instruction, to encourage student writing and conduct teacher/student conferences, and to stimulate students' reading interests. (DB)

A practicum was designed and implemented to foster 24 second graders' literacy and language development via child-centered as opposed to curriculum-centered experiences. The primary goal was to improve students' quality and quantity of writing by allowing extra time, much exposure to more and various non-basal literature, hands-on activities, and…

Intended for college students and other writers, this book contains a detailed, step-by-step description of the writing process, from prewriting and brainstorming to polishing the mechanics of a final draft. The book is divided into five major sections. Part 1 is a broad introduction to the natural language attitude toward learning to write. Part…

Investigates writing skills learned in a low socioeconomic status, urban, primary, whole-language classroom. Finds that the children became more fluent writers who used more complex sentences, but the surface level skills used for some purposes did not become automatic. Suggests that some children need more opportunities for editing and…

Describes one teacher's change process as she moved from a formal list of spelling words to a more individualized program, focusing on high-frequency words, student ownership, and sound/spelling principles. Offers descriptions of her spelling program as well as seven selected journals entries to show what her spelling program looks like during a…

This report describes a program for the advancement of student writing skills. The targeted population consisted of elementary school students in a growing middle class community, located in a suburb of a large Midwestern city. The problem of low writing scores was documented in student writing samples, teaching observations, and scores from the…

A study examined a program for promoting standard writing skill development to facilitate effective communication. Targeted were three regular third- and fourth-grade classes and one bilingual fourth-grade class in growing, middle class communities located west of a large metropolitan area. The lack of developmentally appropriate spelling and…

A study examined the effectiveness of a program for improving student writing skills by using whole language. Targeted population was a fifth grade class of 30 students in a stable middle class, suburban community, located in Rockford, Illinois. Writing deficiencies were documented through data gathered from norm referenced tests, quality and…

This booklet presents a qualitative evaluation of the Simi Star Project, which sought to demonstrate the use of a Writing to Read adaptation that supports a literature-based, whole language, writing process environment within kindergarten and first-grade classrooms. After a description of the questions that the evaluation asked, the booklet…

This paper was designed to show that the two seemingly disparate concepts of andragogy (the study of how adults learn) and whole language are compatible and should be considered by planners and implementers of adult literacy programs. Guiding principles that both andragogy and whole language share are: (1) active participation of learners; (2) use…

Compared the longitudinal effects of phonics and whole-language instruction on kindergartners' reading and writing task performance over one year. Found that the whole-language group made more progress in reading and writing, and with more developmental coherence, than the phonics group. (JPB)

A practicum addressed the problem that the traditional Chapter 1 program of a school district had not been effective in promoting literacy growth. The students repeatedly read the same stories with equal lack of success each time. They were not motivated to read or write because the purpose was irrelevant and failure was probable. The strategy…

The practicum described in this report was designed to make a significant difference in increasing students' language expression by assisting teachers with the appropriate techniques to incorporate effectively the writing process in an integrated language arts curriculum. The target group consisted of 150 fourth-grade students and the 5…