Explores the use of detective story writing to help children move from chronology to causality. Examines the elements of a detective mystery and includes a sample story written by a student. (HTH)

Presents a writing project in which children illustrate a story within a drawn circle, ending up where the story started, as a model for story writing. (HTH)

Describes the writing experiences of a group of gifted fifth and sixth grade students in the Active Learning Experiences in Resourceful Thinking (ALERT) program in Abilene, Texas. (HTH)

Gives step-by-step illustrations for making books to encourage children to write. (HTH)

Examines structural ties that children use to join their sentences into a coherent paragraph or composition. (HTH)

Drawings and writings of two children produced for each year from age four to eight were presented to "experts" in the field of style to see if they could determine which student did each picture or paragraph, based on stylistic consistencies. Concludes that style is inherent in a child's first compositions. (HTH)

Describes a teaching method involving folk music for enriching language arts programs and developing children's library skills. (HTH)

Discusses the advantages of using reader's theatre over other dramatic activities, as well as ways to implement reader's theatre in the classroom. (HTH)

Weekly poetry fests, using poetry throughout the curriculum, and giving children a sense of the tremendous variety of poetry are discussed as methods for helping children appreciate poetry. (HTH)

The use of creative dramatics in the elementary school classroom for developing in students awareness of the world around them is discussed in this interview with Brian Way, a noted contributor in the field of drama and children's theatre. (HTH)

Cites ERIC materials describing how music in the classroom can help improve reading readiness, recall, and creative writing. (HTH)

The current state of research on language learning processes is reviewed, and the implications of that research for language arts teachers are discussed. (HTH)

Five educational leaders--John Downing, Richard E. Hodges, Charlton Laird, Pose Lamb, and Roy C. O'Donnell--offer reflections on significant developments in research on language development during the 1970s and on their hopes for language research and instruction in the 1980s. (GT)

Presents evidence revealing the complexity of young children's language understandings with regard to spelling patterns, parts of speech, and vocabulary; points out that teachers must build upon the language knowledge that children bring to school. (GT)

Discusses classroom literary practices related to teacher questioning, retelling, literalism, and figurative language for children in the concrete operational stage; concludes that recent research on response to literature may say as much about what children are taught to do as what they do developmentally. Offers suggestions about teaching…