The activities presented in this book, designed to help children translate their thoughts into spoken and written words, can supplement an elementary teacher's own language arts lessons. Objectives for each activity are listed, with the general focus of the many oral activities being to develop a rich verbal background for future written work. The book is organized into three parts: "Self-Expression,""Word Fun," and "Meet the Authors." The first part includes 16 activities involving listening, talking, and writing skills to help children interpret their feelings about life and the changes in the world around them; references are made to well-known children's books and poems. The 14 activities in part two emphasize the importance of language in conversation, encourage students to increase their vocabularies, and help them to develop an awareness of unusual and descriptive words. Part three (11 lessons) introduces children to some well-known authors through discussing the origins of stories, various versions of the same story, and anecdotes about authors. Authors discussed are Felix Salten, Dr. Seuss, Hans Christian Andersen, Edward Lear, The Brothers Grimm, M. Sasek, Margaret Wise Brown, Beatrix Potter, Joan Walsh Auglund, and Doris Van Liew Foster. (LH)