This paper attempts to identify key, recurring discourse activities and to develop hypotheses about ethnic or subgroup differences in discourse style that could lead to adverse educational outcomes. Data are drawn from ethnographic observation of 50 sharing time ("show and tell") sessions held in a first grade classroom. Different…

This overview of the Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP) discusses the initiation and development of BAWP, the proliferation of programs based on the Bay Area model, and the establishment of the National Writing Project (NWP). The basis for BAWP is described as the recognition that there are outstanding teachers of writing in the schools and that…

THIS COURSE DESCRIPTION RECOUNTS A FOURTH-GRADE TEACHERS EXPERIENCE OF MOTIVATING AND ASSISTING INNER-CITY SLUM CHILDREN TO DEVELOP COMPOSITION SKILLS AND INCLUDES THE THREE UNITS SHE TAUGHT--(1) "LEARNING TO BE SPECIFIC" AND "LEARNING TO DESCRIBE SENSE IMPRESSIONS," (2) "LEARNING TO DESCRIBE PEOPLE," AND (3)…

THE "ENGLISH IN EVERY CLASSROOM" PROGRAM IS PRIMARILY CONCERNED WITH MOTIVATING "GENERAL" STUDENTS, FROM KINDERGARTEN THROUGH JUNIOR COLLEGE, TO FEEL THE PLEASURES OF AND NECESSITY FOR READING AND WRITING. TO REINFORCE THEIR LITERACY, STUDENTS ARE SATURATED WITH APPROPRIATE, ATTRACTIVE PAPERBACK BOOKS, NEWSPAPERS, AND MAGAZINES. WRITING…

A CONTINUATION OF A FIRST-GRADE STUDY OF THREE APPROACHES TO BEGINNING READING AND OF THEIR EFFECT ON GROWTH IN COMPREHENSION AND INTERPRETATION SKILL IS REPORTED. THE BASAL, THE MODIFIED LINGUISTIC, AND THE LINGUISTIC APPROACHES WERE STUDIED. TWENTY-ONE SECOND-GRADE CLASSROOMS IN THREE CENTRAL NEW YORK SCHOOL DISTRICTS PARTICIPATED IN THE…

THE NEBRASKA ELEMENTARY ENGLISH CURRICULUM IS BASED ON THE PREMISE THAT DESIRE TO READ, UNDERSTANDING OF ONE'S NATIVE LANGUAGE, AND COMPETENCE IN COMPOSITION DEVELOP FROM A CONTINUING EXPOSURE TO LITERATURE OF SUPERIOR QUALITY. THE SEQUENCE OF LITERARY WORKS AND ANALOGOUS COMPOSITIONS LEADS THE CHILD FROM AN APPREHENSION OF THE "MYTHIC"…

IN THE NEBRASKA ENGLISH CURRICULUM FOR GRADE TWO, DEVELOPMENT OF A SENSE OF LANGUAGE USAGE AND OF NARRATIVE FORM AND PLOT IS STRESSED. SUCH CLASSIC FOLK TALES AS "LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD" AND "THE THREE BEARS" POINT OUT THE REPETITION OF PLOT STRUCTURE AND LANGUAGE FOUND IN STORIES. FUN WITH LANGUAGE FORMS IS ENCOURAGED THROUGH…

THE NEBRASKA ENGLISH CURRICULUM FOR GRADE THREE CONTINUES TO CENTER ON THE READING OF LITERATURE, WITH RELATED LANGUAGE AND COMPOSITION ACTIVITIES. TO STRENGTHEN CHILDREN'S AWARENESS OF THE ORAL AND REPETITIVE PATTERNS IN FOLK LITERATURE AND OF THE LITERARY PURPOSES OF THESE DEVICES, SEVERAL GRIMM FAIRY TALES ARE READ AND THEN COMPARED WITH MODERN…

THE NEBRASKA ENGLISH CURRICULUM FOR GRADE FIVE CONTINUES THE PRESENTATION OF LITERARY TECHNIQUES USED TO PRODUCE WORKS OF IMAGINATION. IN "TALL TALE AMERICAN," RAPUNZEL," AND OTHER FAIRY TALES, THE AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN FOLK TRADITIONS ARE COMPARED FOR COMMON STYLISTIC AND STRUCTURAL DEVICES. A MORE COMPLEX USE OF TECHNIQUES USED IN…

GRADE-SIX UNITS OF THE NEBRASKA ENGLISH CURRICULUM CULMINATE THE ELEMENTS OF ALL PREVIOUS UNITS AND POINT TOWARD A MORE ANALYTICAL STUDY OF LITERATURE. "THE SEVEN VOYAGES OF SINBAD" IS USED TO REVIEW THE FOLK-TALE "PSEUDO-GENRE." LEWIS CARROLL'S "ALICE" STORIES AND "A WRINKLE IN TIME" ILLUSTRATE THE FANCIFUL…

ALTHOUGH CHILDREN'S NEEDS FOR WRITTEN EXPRESSION PROBABLY PARALLEL THOSE OF ADULTS, THE REASON BEHIND CHILDREN'S CHOICE OF WRITING OVER SPEAKING IN GIVEN INSTANCES IS OPEN TO CONJECTURE. MOREOVER, THE COMMON ASSUMPTION BY TEACHERS THAT CHILDREN CAN AND SHOULD WRITE ABOUT PERSONAL INTERESTS OUGHT TO BE TEMPERED BY THE IDEA THAT MANY INTERESTS ARE…

RESEARCH HAS SHOWN THAT ORAL LANGUAGE IS A BASIS FOR ACHIEVEMENT IN BOTH WRITING AND READING, AND MANY CHILDREN WHO HAVE NOT HAD SUFFICIENT EARLY HELP IN ORAL LANGUAGE HAVE DIFFICULTY WITH LANGUAGE SKILLS. HAVING CHILDREN DICTATE COMPOSITIONS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR GROWTH IN ORAL LANGUAGE, AND THE TRANSCRIPTIONS CAN PROVIDE A SOURCE OF READING…

A CURRICULUM GUIDE FOR THE SLOW LEARNER IS PRESENTED. AREAS OF CONCENTRATION ARE--(1) IDENTIFICATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SLOW LEARNER, (2) DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT OF AVAILABLE MATERIALS AND SUITABLE METHODS, AND (3) DEVELOPMENT OF POSSIBLE CLASSROOM UNITS AND EVALUATION PROCEDURES FOR THE RL PROGRAM. IN TEACHING THE…

The hypothesis that role-playing scenarios specifying full rhetorical contexts were a superior means of eliciting valid writing samples for the purpose of assessing compositional skills of prospective Florida teachers was tested. In addition, topics for use on the initial administrations of the Florida Teacher Competency Examination's writing…

The development of the City University of New York's writing assessment test is discussed in this paper. Its relationship to the total freshman skills assessment program, which also involves the assessment of minimal competencies in mathematics and reading, is related. The discussion of the test includes descriptions of the test development…