Emphasizing that language arts and reading are "binding agents" for all kinds of learning and should be integrated throughout the elementary curriculum, the guiding philosophy of this book is that the best teachers are those who continue to learn along with their students. Each chapter in the book ends with a "Teacher as Researcher" section and open-ended questions, which provide new teachers with opportunities to continue the search for fresh instructional possibilities in their own classrooms. A multitude of actual classroom examples and vignettes and a year-long diary of a second-year teacher offer ways to explore the concepts introduced in the book. Chapters in the book are (1) Looking in on Literacy: Children and Teachers in Partnership; (2) Literacy Learning: Changing Perspectives; (3) Creating Classroom Environments for Literacy Learning; (4) Authentic Assessment; (5) Meeting the Challenges of Diversity; (6) Emergent Literacy; (7) Developing Listening and Oral Language Abilities; (8) Reading: Process and Practice; (9) Developing Strategic Readers; (10) Creating Literature-Rich Classrooms; (11) Inviting Students to Become Writers; (12) Building Reading/Writing Connections; (13) Writers' Toolbox; and (14) Teaching Thematically: Integrating Language Arts across the Curriculum. An epilogue and an approximately 1,000-item bibliography of children's literature is attached. (RS)