Outlines how teachers can motivate students and narrow the gap between school and home by using students' anecdotes about their families for reading or writing activities. Notes that this exercise also helps bridge the gap between spoken and written language. (MM)

Describes how writing personal newsletters to parents helps students practice and master language arts skills in a meaningful context. Provides a sample information "web" for one of the newsletters. (MM)

Describes a writing activity in which students write and perform their own television shows. (MM)

Describes how students enjoy poetry by writing cinquain poems. Provides an example lesson leading to a completed cinquain poem about tulips. (MM)

Outlines a series of activities using story writing to teach first grade students about story structure. (MM)

Describes a graphic organizer, THINK-WINK-DECIDE (Things I Now Know--What I Need to Know--Decide). Notes that this graphic organizer helps children comprehend expository text. (MM)

Describes the Pittston (Pennsylvania) Area School District's Adopt-a-Book Program, in which each class formally "adopted" a favorite book to promote through a variety of displays and activities. (MM)

Noting the time parents can spend with their children in literacy activities is often limited, identifies and describes eight principles upon which the success of parent-child literacy efforts appear to hinge, such as (1) regular daily time, (2) purpose and motivation, and (3) real literacy activity. (NH)

Claims that even though teaching phonics is an effective method of reading instruction, the skills taught by phonics have little to do with the process of reading acquisition. Offers two methods of resolving the paradoxes generated by this situation. (NH)

Claims that teachers of elementary students in the U.S. and the U.K. are often concerned with teaching the "basic skills" of reading at the expense of developing information skills: locating information, learning from it and using it. Suggests approaches for teaching these skills.(NH)

Recognizes that many teachers feel uncomfortable with the Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA). Describes and explains the steps, or elements, of the DRTA and suggests ideas for preparing and implementing this instructional strategy. (NH

Notes the importance of practice in facilitating students' reading developnment and presents guidelines for providing practice which are designed around three areas of concern: planning, delivering, and evaluating assignments. (NH)

Describes how the educational experience of sixth grade remedial readers was revitalized and enriched through a project that grew out of reading "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes." Suggests using "real" books (literature) to liberate remedial students from skill drills and reading games. (NH)

Notes that primary and intermediate grade teachers rely heavily on basal readers for instruction and offers the advantages of and guidelines for using a skill trace approach to tracking selected skills across the program, as an evaluation strategy.NH)

Cites research supporting the theory that young children need several exposures to a story for complete understanding and reports on a study involving six rereadings of one book to a five year old over a two week period in an effort to guide "literary" development. (NH)