Describes how three tutors helped an adult progress from a nonreader to a competent and enthusiastic reader, using an approach rooted in whole-language research and practice. (SR)

Project FIEL, Family Initiative for English Literacy, was designed to provide participatory literacy and biliteracy development opportunities for (Hispanic-American) families in El Paso. This article discusses program goals; theoretical perspectives; project design rationale; population characteristics; curriculum development, implementation, and…

This article discusses the advantages of using literature in language instruction with special needs students, outlines a process for developing instructional activities, suggests 19 specific books and related learning objectives and activities, and provides a lesson plan that illustrates the incorporation of direct instruction in a whole-language…

Provides a profile of the learning-disabled adolescent student. Supports a child-centered, whole-language philosophy of teaching advocating literature-based instruction across the curriculum for such learners. Analyzes written and verbal responses of three male students to determine the potential of such an educational approach. (HB)

Suggests that John Dewey's 1938 text can take teachers into the 21st century and provides valid advice on teaching decisions including philosophy of education, learning, and schooling. Describes Dewey's five tenets of a framework that can provide language arts teachers with guidance for conceiving of student-centered, whole-language schooling and…

Targeted to a wide audience, this book is a highly readable, nontechnical work without sacrificing the informative value offered by the relevant empirical research. The book is organized into three sections that discuss why it's difficult to learn to read; existing scientific evidence in reading research; and practical solutions, based on the…

A yearlong study investigated the effects of whole language-based instruction on the writing development of eight Spanish-speaking and eight English-speaking kindergarten children. The writing skills of the Spanish-speaking children developed similarly to those of the English-speaking children, refuting rationales used to place Spanish-speaking…

Explores vocabulary-learning opportunities in a seventh-grade literature-based reading program. Discusses how this program supported vocabulary teaching and learning both explicitly and implicitly, and shows how varying classroom configurations expanded learners' word knowledge and enhanced their word-learning abilities. (SR)

A survey of 31 teachers nominated as "effective" in teaching literacy skills to elementary students with reading disabilities found teachers reported instructional practices that included components of whole language and direct instruction approaches. In general, the greater the needs of students, the more direct instruction they…

Describes a preliminary study of the development and psychometric integrity of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) norms for literature-based reading. Assesses the reading achievement of 403 first through third graders. Results show that CBM procedures can be modified to develop local norms for literature-based instruction. (MKA)

Discusses the work of New Zealand educator and writer Sylvia Ashton-Warner. Describes her organic philosophy and how it is the basis for whole-language teaching; describes her Key Vocabulary method. Discusses adapting organic learning and whole language to upper-level literacy teaching. Discusses group inquiry learning and personalized teaching.…

Reports on a partnership program between a small rural Ohio elementary school and the College of Education at Ohio University that provided a holistic integration of university classes and field experiences with a whole language focus in the elementary school setting. (NH)

This discussion of the sources of "Reading Recovery" presents the results of an investigation into whether or not this relatively costly, tutoring remedial reading program, designed for primary-grade students, is based on relevant experimental evidence as to how these students best learn to read. The general finding of the study was that Reading…

This study examined whether oral reading fluency in a child's first language (Spanish) as assessed by Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) was related to oral reading fluency in a second language (English) and whether Spanish oral reading fluency probes administered in the fall were predictive of English oral reading fluency outcomes for spring of…

Applying the whole language perspective across the primary-grade curriculum, this book presents 10 essays that describe first-, second-, and third-grade classrooms where teachers find authentic, meaningful ways for children to communicate about their lives and what they are learning. Essays in the book demonstrate numerous whole language…