Distressed by their students' reading failure rate, teachers at two Georgia schools developed a parallel block-scheduling plan that allows for whole-class instruction, direct-instruction miniclasses, and enrichment labs for all students. Success depends on matching creative, resourceful teachers to the enrichment lab positions. Over the past two…

Describes several instructional strategies middle-school science teacher uses to teach students to read and write about science. (Contains 12 references.) (PKP)

A recent study comparing whole language and skills-oriented instruction found that students in whole language classes spent more time on cognitively complex literacy tasks. Educators need to balance the use of narrative and expository text, integrate subject matter areas, and use a variety of instructional grouping strategies. Includes 10…

When creating the instructional program Writing in Response to Reading, teachers in River Forest, Illinois, focused on three types of writing (retelling, extending, and critiquing). To evaluate students, they devised "prompts" (unfinished stories) requiring students to construct an ending to demonstrate their understanding and use of…

Assuming that writing and reading must serve the goals of a liberal education (preparing young Americans for responsible citizenship), the Institute on Writing, Reading, and Civic Education promotes student writing to personalize civic relationships, to obtain or provide information or services, to evaluate public services, or to evaluate a…

Because both whole language and traditional skill-based instruction have strengths, educators should use a combined approach that includes direct instruction in phonics and reading comprehension skills along with whole language instruction. (Author/TE)

The Center for Children and Families at the Education Development Center, Inc., is working with Harvard University on the Home-School Study. By following 60 children over a 10-year period, they are identifying the types of environments and teaching practices that stimulate language and literacy development. The amount of writing children did in…

All students, including struggling readers, need opportunities to make choices in their reading. Schools should shun round-robin oral reading and basal readers, prioritize reading time, allocate resources for varied reading materials keyed to student interests, and develop better reading teachers, not better reading programs. (Contains 20…

A six-year study of how teachers affect learning of reading and mathematics provides research evidence to support some old truths. (Author)

Enlarges the phonics/whole language debate by focusing on the classroom teacher's evolving role. Whole language instruction involves a fundamental change in a teacher's belief system concerning classroom culture. A complex paradigm shift is needed from teachers' transmission of knowledge to students' transaction or engagement with constructing…

Unless educators can learn from past extremes, the current emphasis on literature and whole language instruction may undermine phonics and other necessary principles. Fortunately, a reborn emphasis on writing will assist the development of accurate decoding and stress the phonemic structure of language. Educators must embrace "best" trends and…

Reading and writing at one New Hampshire school district are considered integrated processes. Writing generates an enthusiasm for reading, and reading creates the impetus for writing. Whole language instruction has produced high reading comprehension scores, an increase in book-reading quality and quantity, and a dramatic drop in special education…

In a response to the previous article by Carla Heymsfield, it is argued that whole language, as a coherent philosophy of language instruction, does not need to be "patched" with skills instruction, and that direct instruction cannot be reconciled with natural learning. (TE)

The reading workshop is not based on ability groups, but provides a venue to focus on each student's strengths and needs. Components include a teacher-sharing time, focus lesson, state-of-the-class conference, self-selected reading and responding time, and student-sharing time. (MLH)

The secondary school teachers can make a difference even if they do not have formal training in teaching reading in the content areas. Teachers can support improved reading comprehension by introducing model approaches that encourage interaction with text, which helps students gain insight into their own reading strategies and also increase their…