Downloads & Free Reading Options - Results

Includes bibliographical references and index

Administrators should realize that whole language is a multidimensional belief system, that everyone involved in its implementation must become a learner, and that this process requires risk taking in a supportive environment. Principals can provide such support by working cooperatively with teachers during every phase of implementation. The following guidelines are suggestions that can be added to individuals' repertoires and used when needed: (1) form study groups for the purpose of sharing information; (2) develop a firm belief in emerging literacy; (3) treat independent reading as an important activity rather than as a frill; (4) encourage the teaching of vocabulary through reading immersion; (5) support teachers' demonstration activities that reinforce the role of context for expanding word knowledge; and (6) focus on informal evaluation that is well-matched with instruction. These guidelines are only a sampling of the many ways in which educational leaders and teachers can take risks while they promote worthwhile strategies and activities for children. (Eighty-five references are attached.) (RS)

A study investigated how a teacher managed her whole-language instructional approach within the constraints of the district skills-based evaluation program. Data gathering and analysis took place over a 5-month period in a first-grade urban midwestern classroom. Data included field notes, interviews, artifacts, and classroom observations. The teacher expressed the conflict she had with the demand for traditional evaluation measures and what she thought was useful to her as a teacher. She devised a combination of techniques to meet these demands: she integrated some traditional quantitative assessment and used periodic checks from standardized measures provided by basal reader publishers. A great deal of evaluation information was gathered by the teacher informally through daily and weekly observations describing children's literacy behaviors. As the year progressed, the teacher kept careful records on student writing and the children's growing knowledge of letter/sound relations. Assigning writing grades produced a continual dilemma for the teacher. As a necessary compromise, the teacher produced the kind of evaluation her district demanded and also managed her needs as a whole language teacher. At the heart of her evaluation, the teacher constructs meaning for herself and her students in ways that are child-centered and consistent with theoretical groundings. (Completed samples of a parent questionnaire, a reading questionnaire, a child's actual oral reading behavior, and a letter identification score sheet are attached.) (RS)

1Sir Christopher Wren: Scientist, Scholar and Architect

By Lawrence Weaver

This 1923 monograph on the life and work of Sir Christopher Wren was written by Lawrence Weaver, an English architectural writer and editor. Though this recording naturally omits the illustrations and photographs of the printed edition, the text is clear, informative, and interesting. Wren comes to life and his work is knowledgeably described by an expert in architecture. This recording omits the three appendices and the section on authorities and acknowledgments. The text refers many times to a book, Parentalia, published by Wren’s son. This is: Parentalia: Or, Memoirs Of The Family Of The Wrens… The biographies of Sir Christopher Wren and two earlier members of the Wren family are followed by four short tracts by Sir Christopher on the aesthetics and origins of architecture, and by notes on the temple of Diana at Ephesus and on the 'temple of peace' (i.e. basilica of Constantine) and temple of Mars Ultor at Rome. - Summary by david wales