Young children learn many important things about language from the television and radio ads they encounter that can help them learn to read and write. They learn that print carries messages that are personally important to them, that whatever can be said can also be written, what some forms of written language look like, and that language use can be fun and is often predictable. Parents and teachers can use these commercials to help young children become better readers and writers. Among other things, parents can encourage their children to write down their favorite ads, to modify them, or even to make up their own; they can have them write for real purposes, such as letters or kitchen duty lists; and they can let their children see them reading books or magazines. Teachers can allow students to write their own advertisements for unusual products or even for their best friends, have them write a script to a television ad, and let each student write an advertisement jingle. (JL)