Through this article, we describe an instructional strategy termed "Beautiful Books." This strategy involves the creation of images and texts to be used in the development of oral and literacy skills. We explore the historical roots of the strategy in Language Experience Approach (LEA) and Whole language and consider how dictation and early…

This article centers the stories of two eighth grade students in the context of a social action literacy project. Their teacher designed curriculum that scaffolded opportunities for them to address English language arts standards while speaking out for social change. The students' responses to the project reveal their civic literacy practices, as…

Discusses the attention process and indicates the crucial role it plays in oral learning (listening). (DD)

A review of research which concludes that there is no cause and effect relationship between speech errors and spelling errors, that there is a relationship between Black English and certain spelling errors, and that there is conflicting evidence on the use of intensive phonics in spelling programs. (DD)

Describes how a purposeful, creative use of show and tell can help develop students' speaking, listening, and thinking skills. (DD)

An annotated bibliography of 11 documents included in the ERIC system that are sources of information on teaching listening and speaking as an interactive process. (DD)

Considers ways to use creative dramatics to develop competence in speaking, listening, and--by extension--writing. (DD)

Notes that a premium has been placed on written composition in American schools. Discusses classroom research that demonstrates the power of oral composition. Suggests that to help all children become better composers, educators must involve them in authentic oral, as well as written, composition. (SR)

Examines social contexts of beginning readers through an exploration of three dimensions that have an impact upon beginning readers' reading events: peer relationships and their role in children's reading development, children's oral language and discourse, and constructivism and sociocultural perspectives on learning. Offers implications for…

Reviews research on the relationship between the receptive language arts skills (reading and listening), on the relationship between the expressive skills (writing and speaking), and on the relationships between receptive and expressive skills. Reports on teaching materials that reflect these interrelationships. (RL)

Reviews research on the importance of oral language for the child and provides a framework for curriculum design based on talk purposes, talk contexts, and talk planning. (DD)

Focuses on the narrative function to show how children can build on another speaker's turns in conversation and can build on their own utterances as they speak. Analyzes children's dialogs and narratives to highlight the primacy of the oral language arts as they are enacted in daily conversation and play. (HTH)

Reviews materials from the ERIC system and other sources on providing natural learning situations in which reading, writing, speaking, and listening can be developed together for real purposes and real audiences in the self-contained elementary classroom. (HTH)

Lists 15 criteria for evaluating the procedures to be used in the assessment of student listening and speaking skills. Prefaces the list with statements concerning predictability and the relationships among the language arts. (RL)

Describes a number of nonnarrative films and suggests ways to use them to integrate media into subject areas, to teach production techniques, to critique films and other visual productions, and to develop good visual taste. (DD)