The competencies established for the language arts program for kindergarten through sixth grade in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, are listed in this document, which indicates grade levels for introducing particular skills, developing skills, and mastering skills. Tests to assist teachers in measuring students' progress in listening comprehension,…

The history of grammar instruction includes two approaches: the handbook approach, which is practiced today, and the textbook approach. The handbook approach focuses on rules for correct writing and is an error-based view, while the textbook approach would treat grammar holistically and interpretively and would systematically explain new concepts…

A composition course for teachers emphasizes the importance of writing for a specific audience, of alternating between the concrete and the abstract, and of developing intelligent criteria for evaluating writing. (Author)

Suggests cultural journalism--the collection and preservation of the oral history, folklore, and folklife of a locale--as a teaching strategy to encourage students to explore and appreciate their cultural heritage while strengthening their English language arts skills. (HTH)

Presents data from a survey of the course offerings of 265 midwestern high schools that tend to support the belief that language arts minicourse programs still exist in spite of a trend toward a more traditional curriculum. Listed first in the data is the finding that every high school offered at least one minicourse in composition. (AEA)

Defines and explains the elements of the English curriculum (listening, speaking, reading and writing) and shows how, as integrated, they become the basis for the middle school or junior high English curriculum. (Author/JM)

Describes the process one sixth grader went through in writing a short story and analyzes what this reveals about writing and the teaching of writing. (DD)

This article describes an inter-class project that paired second and fifth grade students to produce a book of their poetry developed through a program of instruction in the forms and literary aspects of poetry. Students collaborated broadly across grade levels on composition of poems and cover art for the publication. (PB)

A teacher of ninth-grade at-risk students describes her teaching methods, which involve giving students challenging writing tasks and displaying their finished products for the public. In this way, the students work hard, feel important, learn for a purpose, and feel that what they offer is valuable. (JDD)

Traditional teaching of English language arts is based on a receptive-accrual view of learning, which places the learner in a passive rather than an active role in the teaching-learning process. This approach conveys to the learner the view that the subject matter is fragmented and that teachers prepare discrete, disconnected lessons. L.M.…

The role of spontaneous story writing in the education of normal and emotionally troubled students is examined. A review of the theoretical and research base touches on the value of fantasy production in language development, self exploration, and problem solving. Classroom application is examined in terms of the need for a facilitative…