Reading is an area of the curriculum that contains many opportunities for students to develop self-esteem. Three common procedures used in the classroom, however, are likely to threaten students' self-esteem: required oral reading; team selection and the aspect of competing and declaring winners and losers; and question and answer procedures. Alternatives to required oral reading include one-to-one reading; choral reading using big books and language experience charts; reading along with a tape-recording of a predictable book; "partner reading"; "perfection reading"; and "impress reading." Alternatives to competitive teams include random selection of team members and avoidance of team rankings. Alternatives to traditional question and answer techniques are to ask questions a student can answer; rephrasing the question for the student; giving praise for the part of an answer that is correct; and offering clues. Instructional strategies for fostering self-esteem in beginning readers are dependent upon the teacher. Whenever teachers are unsure as to whether a classroom practice will damage a students' self-esteem, the teachers should ask themselves how they would feel in that situation. (RS)