Noting that language arts and reading across the curriculum are in vogue, this paper asserts that reading is an important and distinct part of the language arts and overall school curriculum. It discusses actions and methods involved in the teaching of reading itself, including: (1) oral reading to and by students; (2) availability of a variety of book selections; (3) use of basal readers; (4) development of skill techniques for word recognition, such as phonics, syllabication, and context and picture clues; (5) determination of reading levels; (6) awareness of problems in reading, signaled by reading error types; and (7) fostering of reading for diverse purposes. The paper concludes that quality reading involves the ability to comprehend and understand that which has been read, and that when pupils read, the approach used should stress holism as much as possible. (EF)