AFTER TAPE RECORDING AND ANALYZING INFORMAL CONVERSATIONS WITH KINDERGARTEN AND THIRD-GRADE NEGRO CHILDREN IN THE CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS, A PROGRAM OF LANGUAGE ARTS INSTRUCTION WAS DRAWN UP TO (1) USE ACTUAL STATEMENTS MADE BY THE CHILD IN HIS DIALECT FOR CONTRAST WITH STANDARD ENGLISH, (2) LIMIT PATTERN PRACTICE TO VERBS AND TO STATEMENTS EASILY COMPARED WITH STANDARD ENGLISH, AND (3) FOCUS ON ONE VERB PATTERN AT A TIME. IN EACH OF EIGHT UNITS THE CHILDREN WERE FIRST ENCOURAGED TO MAKE STATEMENTS USING THE VERB TO BE STUDIED. THESE WERE THEN RECORDED ON THE CHALKBOARD IN STANDARD ENGLISH (CALLED "SCHOOL TALK") AND NONSTANDARD DIALECT (CALLED "EVERYDAY TALK") AND CONTRASTS WERE POINTED OUT AND DRILLED. WRITTEN MATERIALS WERE PREPARED IN BOTH DIALECTS AND THE CHILDREN PRACTICED CHANGING NONSTANDARD TO STANDARD. AT THE END OF ONE SCHOOL YEAR, INFORMAL CONVERSATIONS IN "SCHOOL TALK" WERE RECORDED WITH SMALL GROUPS FROM THE EXPERIMENTAL CLASS AND FROM CONTROL CLASSES. SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE NOTED IN REGARD TO USAGE OF TWO OF THE SIX VERBS TESTED, BUT NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DATA WERE FOUND FOR THE OTHER FOUR. THIS PAPER WAS READ AT THE AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION MEETING, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, FEBRUARY 1968. (JD)