A month-long study examined students' attitudes toward aspects of a specific reading workshop based on the whole language theory of instruction. Of the 23 students in a fifth-grade classroom, 11 became part of the experimental group who participated in the process which incorporated four primary aspects of language arts: reading, writing,…

This booklet presents a qualitative evaluation of the Simi Star Project, which sought to demonstrate the use of a Writing to Read adaptation that supports a literature-based, whole language, writing process environment within kindergarten and first-grade classrooms. After a description of the questions that the evaluation asked, the booklet…

This paper was designed to show that the two seemingly disparate concepts of andragogy (the study of how adults learn) and whole language are compatible and should be considered by planners and implementers of adult literacy programs. Guiding principles that both andragogy and whole language share are: (1) active participation of learners; (2) use…

A survey was undertaken to provide a profile of current reading programs in juvenile correctional facilities. Data were gathered to determine whether "illiterates" exist in the juvenile correctional facilities; if oral comprehension is better than reading comprehension; what approaches and strategies are used for teaching word…

A study investigated teachers' and staff developers' perceptions and assessment of the Whole Language Network (which assists teachers in using the whole language approach), the support provided to participants, changes in teaching and assessment practices, and the effects of such changes on student attitudes and achievement. A total of 164…

A study examined the differences in first-grade students' attitudes about reading/writing when teachers taught by using ability grouping or when teachers taught by using whole language instruction. Two questionnaires were distributed to four teachers, one requesting information on use of reading/writing instruction in the classroom, and the other…

These guides are designed for use by early childhood teachers in conjunction with four popular children's books, providing teachers with lesson plans and activities to develop their students' thinking skills. Each guide focuses on a specific book and skill as follows: (1) the guide for "The Jolly Postman or Other People's Letters" emphasizes the…

The argument is advanced that many literacy materials, such as basal readers and workbooks, do not allow literacy students to learn to read and write in the daily context in which the skills will be used, and an alternative is described. The limitations of phonics-based materials and the resulting controlled vocabulary of readers and workbooks…

This study compared teacher-rated classroom ability groupings with total reading scores reported on standardized tests. Kindergarten teachers divided their students into three groups according to how well they had mastered a set of criteria which the teachers felt represented the successful reader and writer at the end of kindergarten. Results…

A study examined teachers' familiarity with selected multi-ethnic literature and their use of it in literature-based classrooms. A questionnaire surveyed 50 elementary teachers of whom 30 were from a K-5 inner city elementary school with a literature-based reading program, and 20 were classroom teachers completing requirements for a graduate…

A study examined the efffect of a restructured preservice literacy methods course on the attitudes and beliefs of three preservice teachers. The major goals of the restructured course were to develop substantive and lasting changes in the preservice teachers' conceptual understandings and theoretical perspectives about literacy teaching, and to…

A practicum was designed to train staff to improve (over an 8-month period) the literacy and reading skills of 60 delinquent adolescent boys residing in a juvenile correction facility. Most of the boys residing at the training school had poor school histories characterized by reading achievement scores several grade levels below their peers and…

The question of whether research supports a "phonics first" approach to teaching reading is not entirely answerable by factual evidence or statistical data: the issue is partly a matter of values and opinion. The debate is over whether phonics should be taught and tested in isolation, as a prelude to reading texts (the phonics-first…

A practicum addressed the high percentage of students who were experiencing difficulty with reading comprehension and vocabulary retention in a fifth-grade Drop Out Prevention class by implementing a supplemental whole-language program. Subjects were 19 fifth-grade students. An informal reading inventory, an attitude survey, and academic grades…

A study compared the philosophies developed in undergraduate methods courses with philosophies influenced by example under a cooperating teacher in an elementary school classroom. Subjects for the first part of the study were 14 undergraduate students enrolled in a methods course. The subjects for the second part of the study were 12 students who…