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…

The Language Lab was a pilot project which sought to develop communicative competence in deaf students with additional disabilities, through the use of the bilingual-bicultural approach and the whole language approach. This paper discusses goals of the Language Lab, classroom strategies, administration, and student evaluation. (Author/JDD)

Survey examined 1,244 elementary principals' understanding of current issues in elementary reading instruction and information sources they used to learn about issues. Principals reported awareness of current reading issues. They did not have enough confidence in their understanding of issues to give a reasoned rationale for taking one particular…

Expresses frustration concerning teachers relying on reading activities about stories, rather than on the stories themselves. Discusses: parents reacting to their children's choice of stories; using stories on video; stories for children reading below grade level; lack of confidence in the power of stories; whole language and writing; invented…

Describes a summer school English-as-a-Second-Language classroom that uses a content-rich whole language curriculum. Highlights experiences that were successful in facilitating literacy development, including reading experiences, writing experiences, talking and reading, and talking and writing. Discusses the effectiveness of the instructional…

This paper describes development of the whole language movement and the writing-process movement. It outlines 10 principles shared by both movements, such as the role of prediction, function before form, and integrated use of cuing systems. Implications for language specialists working with language-disordered students are addressed. (JDD)

The article addresses the needs of primary grade teachers, focusing on whole language. It offers strategies from various primary teachers on such issues as classroom supplies, whole-language displays, literature-based activities, charts, graphs, language logs, end-of-the-day journals, and a class tooth book. (SM)

New roles for teachers in curriculum development conflict with traditional expectations. Constructing curriculum involves teachers' individual flexibility and collective uniformity. This article presents a curriculum-inquiry model that integrates elements of educational practice often dealt with in isolation (instruction, curriculum, assessment,…

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…

Examines the 20-year trend toward American Indian control of Indian education, the growth of tribal colleges, and the importance of community involvement in education. Focuses on the Native American Languages Act, the Indian Nations At Risk Task Force and its 10 goals for Native education, and the White House Conference on Indian Education. (SV)

This article presents activities for helping gifted students learn about caring, sharing, and charity, with projects in the areas of language arts, social studies, science, and mathematics. Teachers' notes are also included. (PB)

Describes a cross-age reading program used to refine and extend the whole language and process writing goals that are part of the school curriculum plan. Discusses the observation of students and evaluation strategies. (MG)

A fifth grade teacher describes how by reading classic literature aloud to her students each day, she helped them along the road to literature-based learning. She discusses the advantages of the whole-language approach. (SM)

A proposed research project is described in which two university-based researchers and four elementary school teachers will investigate problematic features of "whole language instruction" in monthly reflexive conversations. One hypothesis is that problems with whole language practice are indicative of a more broadly based cultural…

"Abra Cadabra," a new computer program for second-language learning for fourth- and fifth-grade students, is described that is based on the whole language approach to language acquisition. (two references) (LB)