Describes how art became a central part of a South Texas teacher's language arts curriculum and how such an approach improved children's reading and writing test scores despite (actually because of) the fact that she refused to drill children for the test. (RS)

Describes an experiment indicating that having students write expressively on a regular basis could significantly improve their reading comprehension and enhance their attitudes toward themselves and toward reading and learning. Discusses implications of these results for the classroom and curriculum. (HTH)