Lesley College and the public schools in Cambridge, Massachusetts collaborated in a project using the natural learning model from Don Holdaway's "The Foundations of Literacy" to improve literacy education in grades K-6. The first two phases of natural learning (desire to learn a skill and attempting the new skill with a proficient person) were covered by a "sharing" time, in which the teacher as demonstrator would read enlarged text to children and point to words. The third and fourth phases (practicing and then performing the new skill) corresponded with the "doing" time, in which children could choose from among several expressive activities including computer work, drama, reading silently, or art. Evaluation of students' progress was guided by the principles that evaluation should be integral to in-class work; should emphasize change and progress over achievement; should use methods consonant with the ultimate purposes of reading for meaning and writing for communication; and should assist a child's learning by describing but not judging it. Three instruments--Marie Clay's "Concepts about Print," oral reading tapes, and a visual cue writing sample--were used for the nearly 300 students participating in the project. Results indicated that the children have become true readers and not decoders. (Three graphs are included.) (MHC)