Reviews 17 children's literature trade books which encourage the reader to revel in language via word play, riddles, word study, rhymes, charts, songs, and poetry. (SR)

The authors used teacher action research with the design experiment (A. Brown, 1992) to investigate the effects of working with parents in small groups on kindergarten children's emergent literacy performance. The authors randomly assigned 56 children enrolled in the morning and afternoon sessions of the first author's kindergarten class in a…

During the summer of 2005, a longtime Japanese teacher at a K-8 school in southwestern Pennsylvania unexpectedly resigned. The school, unable to recruit a new teacher for the 2005-2006 school year, chose to suspend the teaching of Japanese and to establish a committee to examine the foreign language program within the overall school curriculum. In…

In immersion programs, language is not directly taught, but rather embedded into the content of a lesson. The target language is the medium of the lesson, not the object of the instruction. A story provides a language experience and encourages students to participate actively in the lesson. Children are also more apt to learn and retain ideas and…

Among risk factors associated with reading difficulties, poverty and underdeveloped oral language skills can be particularly detrimental to reading success. The City Early Reading First (CERF) project implemented a comprehensive curriculum, professional development, intensive mentoring, and home supports to enhance children's language, literacy,…

Over two decades, six studies evaluated the effects of a home-based early language program on the development of 101 infants. Parents engaged in enrichment activities with their infants over a one-year period that began when the infants were between three and 13 months of age. Participants from families with varied levels of education were…

Article considered the ingredients for effective teaching of language arts. (RK)

This paper describes various approaches to beginning reading instruction and discusses the major factors which determine success or failure in beginning reading regardless of the approach used. The teacher, the child, and the social and physical environment while being infinitely variable can be controlled to great extent by the teacher of…

Reviews recent innovations in language arts instruction and provides lists of materials children read and books children might make. (DD)

Offers suggestions for differentiation of reading instruction based on Joseph Renzulli's Enrichment Triad Model, which provides for general exploratory activities, group training activities, and individual investigations of real problems. (MKM)

Describes the University of Maryland at Baltimore County's one-week foreign language exploratory program for fourth through sixth grade students, and details methods and strategies used to conduct "Spanish Day," where students learned about Spanish language and culture through songs, games, and stories. (CB)