THE BOOKLET PROVIDES WRITING ACTIVITIES TO REINFORCE ORAL EXPRESSION AND READING, WHICH ARE EMPHASIZED IN A LANGUAGE ARTS COURSE FOR NONENGLISH SPEAKING AND CULTURALLY DISADVANTAGED FIRST-GRADE PUPILS. THE BOOKLET IS USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE TEACHERS' MANUAL WHICH TELLS HOW THE VARIOUS EXERCISES ARE TO BE DONE. EXERCISES USE THE VOCABULARY IN THE "NAT THE RAT" BOOKLET, WHICH TELLS THE STORY OF A RAT AND HIS FRIENDS IN LANGUAGE WHICH REFLECTS THE NATURAL FORMS OF CHILDREN'S SPEECH. EACH EXERCISE GIVES DRILL AND PRACTICE IN A CERTAIN LETTER, SOUND, WORD, OR GROUP OF WORDS. THE OBJECT OF THE EXERCISE IS REPEATED OVER AND OVER AGAIN. AMUSING AND HELPFUL PICTURES ACCOMPANY THE TEXT AND GIVE THE CHILD FURTHER HELP WITH THE WORDS IN QUESTION. HELP WITH PENNMANSHIP IS PROVIDED BY RULED LINES WITH INCOMPLETED SENTENCES WRITTEN IN LARGE PRINT SO THAT THE CHILD CAN COPY THE MODELS WHEN HE FILLS IN THE BLANKS. THE TEACHERS' MANUAL FOR "NAT THE RAT" PROVIDES HELP IN UNDERSTANDING MORE FULLY THE OBJECTIVES AND METHODS OF THE COURSE AND OF A SERIES OF SIMILAR COURSES FOR DIFFERENT GRADE LEVELS.