Discusses recent research on story structure in terms of developmental differences in comprehension and presents some suggestions on how this new evidence can be applied to teaching strategies in the classroom. (Author)

Tells how children's spelling strategies offer a glimpse of their knowledge about words; describes a study indicating that children's knowledge about words develops sequentially and systematically over an extended period of time. Discusses implications of the study for spelling instruction. (GT)

Describes an informal study that yielded information about differences between good and poor sixth-grade spellers in their awareness that spelling involves prediction strategies and in their awareness of letter frequencies, pattern frequencies, and positional constraints on spelling. Outlines a few implications for spelling instruction. (GT)

Indicates in poetic form the author's doubts about electronic devices that emphasize spelling drills; notes her preference for instruction based on patterns of language. (GT)

Describes a lesson in which the author discussed the origin of place names with a class of fourth graders; suggests resources and classroom exercises for teachers who want to explore place names with their students. (GT)

Presents an interview with literary critic Northrop Frye in which Frye comments on the purposes and importance of literature in education; goals, growth, and development in literary study; the literature curriculum in elementary schools; and strategies for teaching literature. (GT)

Follows changes in children's writing from the first through fourth grade, presenting case study data that show how children's writing shifts from play to craft. (GT)

Reviews several studies from the ERIC system that deal with the relationship between listening and reading skills and suggests resources for teaching listening skills. (GT)

Describes a three-month study of literacy development in the home and in nursery school. Discusses the results, which indicated that children engage in literacy events far more at home than at school, and offers classroom suggestions for narrowing this discrepency. (HTH)

Describes the setbacks and remarkable progress in one student's writing and attitudes as the result of focusing on the writing process in a one-to-one tutorial relationship. (HTH)

Discusses the differences between inauthentic and authentic writing, arguing that most writing in school is inauthentic, because it is written for someone else's intentions. Examples are cited from a classroom with an essentially whole language orientation, but which occasionally reverts to inauthentic writing assignments. (HTH)

Laments the trend toward the use of management and administrative jargon as the language of school analysis. Endorses a new discourse and mode of analysis of the nature of schooling that would indict the shortcomings but also reveal new possibilities for organizing school experiences. (HTH)

Considers register (factors that vary in situational contexts and produce differences in meaning intent and meaning exchange) variance with its accompanying language transactions during written language events involving children and adults. Illustrates register variance with the writing and drawing of a four-year-old and a first-grader. (HTH)

Presents a variety of social contexts for verbal interaction between adult and child and between children. Discusses the variations in interaction caused by different contexts, as well as features that are consistent across contexts. (HTH)

Interviews two teacher researchers who offer their reflections on the college teacher educator's role in helping classroom teachers take control of their own learning. The two suggest that teacher educators must help classroom teachers clarify their beliefs about language learning so they can become better observers of children's language…