The authors--a second grade classroom teacher and a university professor of education--decided to collaborate. Melanie wanted to find out if she could help her students increase their reading and writing comprehension by presenting a sequence of events in an activity (for example, the steps in building a house) and then have the students write the…

Based on the idea that word knowledge has particular importance in literate societies, this Digest finds that most people feel that there is a common sense relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension, i.e., messages are composed of ideas, and ideas are expressed in words. The Digest considers several viewpoints on teaching…

An important type of reading for elementary age pupils is to read poetry. Pupils need to experience reading and writing different kinds and forms of poetry. There are rich meanings and messages in poetry. The novel use of words adds to the learning repertoire of pupils. There should be poems for pupils to read that deal with diverse topics and…

The purpose of this manuscript is to describe how elementary teachers used their experiences in a storytelling inservice training to teach lessons in language arts, science, social studies, and bilingual education. Qualitative research methods were used in simultaneously collecting and analyzing data. Storytelling was found to be a valuable tool…

Recognizing that newspapers are among the best supplementary instructional materials, this booklet offers suggestions for the use of newspapers for teaching or reinforcing specific reading skills. The booklet focuses on inferential and evaluative comprehension skills, and the suggestions range from how to teach students to identify main ideas and…

This book contains hands-on language arts activities for K-3 children. Activities in the book help develop skills in the six language arts while continually reinforcing how much fun learning can be. The book's teacher-friendly format breaks down each activity into the following components: objectives, materials, preparation, procedure, summary,…

This paper responds to the complaints of several content area teachers that their students are not reading on grade level, and therefore are not able to engage in classroom activities. The paper is divided into two sections: the first section discusses research, effective instructional strategies, and steps to remedy the problem for working with…

Originally developed for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on guiding at-risk students in the language arts classroom is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture giving an overview on the…

Noting that elementary school teachers in a large school near a major U.S. city often had difficulty motivating non-native students and increasing their language arts abilities due to lack of information concerning the students' home environments and cultural values, this practicum examined the need to address differences in cultures and values…

To prevent children with reading difficulties from thinking of themselves as failures, academic experiences must include projects that will motivate them to be responsible learners, enhance their self-concept, and reinforce all the language arts skills. One class of sixth grade students with reading disabilities made minibooks from greeting cards…

Intended for elementary and secondary school language arts teachers, this guide lists suggested outcomes in the development of successful communicators, based on knowledge of child development. Following an introduction, the guide discusses key considerations and procedural sugestions for developing the communications/language arts curriculum. The…