The 1983-84 Chapter 1 Reading Program of the Des Moines (Iowa) Independent Community School District is evaluated in this report. The first section of the report describes the project's operation, and specifically discusses the criteria used for selecting students' instructional methods and activities, how instruction was organized, parent contact…

Language is a complex social event. The rules determining its use vary with (1) the language field--the subject, text, and purpose; (2) the tenor of the social interaction; and (3) the mode or type of communication being used. The impact of the field, tenor, and mode on language use is reflected in a college student's retelling of a story to a…

This manual for first grade French instruction accompanies the early French immersion program. It is based on general and specific learning objectives for the four language skills the child needs to develop (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). The introduction to the manual provides an overview of the program for the primary grades and…

This manual for second grade French instruction accompanies the early French immersion program. It is based on general and specific learning objectives for the four language skills the child needs to develop. The introduction to the manual provides an overview of the program for the primary grades and learning objectives for the four language…

This manual for fourth grade French instruction accompanies the early French immersion program. It is based on general and specific learning objectives for the four language skills the child needs to develop. The introduction to the manual provides an overview of the program for the middle grades and learning objectives for the four language…

This manual for fifth grade French instruction accompanies the early French immersion program. It is based on general and specific learning objectives and addresses the four language skills the child needs to develop. The introduction to the manual provides an overview of the program for the middle grades and learning objectives for the four…

This manual for sixth grade French instruction accompanies the early French immersion program. It is based on general and specific learning objectives and addresses the four language skills the child needs to develop. The introduction to the manual provides an overview of the program for the middle grades and learning objectives for the four…

This manual for seventh grade French instruction accompanies the early French immersion program. It is based on general and specific learning objectives and addresses the four language skills the child needs to develop. The introduction to the manual provides an overview of the program for the middle grades and learning objectives for the four…

Modern information technology holds both threats and promises for the young generation in every aspect of life--social, political, economic, cultural, and personal. Already research is showing some consequences previously unsuspected. The case for mass literacy must be reappraised to assess what sort of literacy is now required, how it must link…

A review of several classroom observation and survey studies of comprehension instruction, content area reading for homework, and aspects of reading assignments raises the question of whether enough is being done in Irish schools to develop critical reading competency. It appears from these studies that many students are being left to their own…

A second grade teacher in a rural Appalachian school draws heavily on familiar regional literature and the children's own rich mountain heritage and culture to teach reading to her students, covering the required basal readings in only one day per week. Students use the basals on Mondays and retell the texts on paper. They spend the rest of the…

Summaries of several papers are presented to develop a working theoretical analysis of reading comprehension and an understanding of development in language comprehension based upon empirical studies. Contributions from the areas of assessment, artificial intelligence, cognition (including schema theory), instruction, linguistics, learning…

A study examined the practitioner's perspective of literature and how literature is being used in the classroom. Teachers, librarians, and administrators at a suburban school serving over 700 children from kindergarten through fifth grade were interviewed, and professional journals directed toward practitioners, published curriculum guides, and…

A study measured the background knowledge of American culture of international students relative to American college students and the extent to which variations in context facilitate their ability to access or supplement this background knowledge. Subjects, three groups of students at Indiana University (27 international students, 28 American…

In this case study illustrating teacher-centered curriculum development, teachers in the Walpole (Massachusetts) public school system were asked to select a reading program for use in grades K-8. Twenty-five teachers served on two teams over a two-year period. They used developmental learning kits at the kindergarten level, basal reading series…