Whole Language Umbrella, Department of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Missouri, 216 Townsend Hall, Columbia, MO 65211; (314) 882-2641.
WLU is a network of approximately 300 whole language support groups, organizations, and teachers. Membership is open to any individual or group. WLU sponsors conferences and publishes the Whole Language Umbrella Newsletter and a list of current members. A membership costs $25 a year for U.S. groups, plus 25 cents per member; or $30 a year for Canadian groups, plus 30 cents per member. For information on how to start a teacher support group in your area, contact: Linda Erdmann, 10 Wildwood Ave., Harwich, MA 02645.
International Reading Association, 800 Barksdale Road, P.O. Box 8139, Newark, DE 19714-8139; (302) 731-1600.
Members of the IRA, a nonprofit professional association for reading educators, receive Reading Today, a bimonthly newsletter that includes news and announcements of conferences and workshops. Members also qualify for reduced rates on publications, conferences, and workshops. A membership costs $19 a year. For an additional $5, teachers can subscribe to the Whole Language Special Interest Group Newsletter, published biannually.
National Writing Project, School of Education, University of California, 5627 Tolman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720; (415) 642-0963.
NWP provides inservice training for educators on whole language (with an emphasis on the teaching of writing) at 140 sites nationwide. For a group of 30 educators, the cost is $300 per workshop or $2,100 for seven three-hour sessions. Academic credit is available for the inservice training at selected colleges and universities.
National Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy, School of Education, University of California, 5513 Tolman Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720; (415) 643-7022.
The center provides inexpensive publications on the study of writing, and it helps teachers arrange writing exchanges with counterparts in other countries. The group also coordinates a professional network dedicated to improving the teaching of writing. A membership costs $25. Members receive The Quarterly, a journal published by the National Writing Project and the Center for the Study of Writing. The journal includes book recommendations and articles--some written by teachers--on current research in writing.
National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL 61801; (217) 328-3870.
NCTE offers a number of workshops and publications on whole language at reduced prices for members. An individual membership costs $40 a year and includes Language Arts, a journal that focuses on the use of children’s literature in the classroom. A subgroup of NCTE, the Whole Language Assembly, sponsors programs and projects of special interest for those involved in whole language and encourages the development of local and state organizations devoted to whole language. Assembly membership dues are $5 a year. For more information about the Whole Language Assembly of NCTE, contact: Kittye Copeland, 300 McNab, Columbia, MO 65201.
Association of American Publishers Reading Initiative, 220 E. 23rd St., New York, NY 10010; (212) 689-8920.
The AAP initiative supports educators implementing a literaturebased curriculum in their classrooms. It offers a free teacher network for those interested in learning how to use children’s books in the classroom.
Writing Lab, University of New Hampshire, Morrill Hall, Durham, NH 03824; (603) 862-2279.
The lab is a research center dedicated to improving reading and writing in schools. Researchers, professors, doctoral students, and teachers associated with the lab offer workshops. The cost of the sessions varies depending on the length, presenter, and the location.
Whole Language Teacher’s Association, 47 Whitewood Road, Westwood, MA 02090.
WLTA, an individual membership organization for whole language educators, disseminates information about the whole language approach through year-round workshops and seminars. A two-year membership costs $20. Members receive WLTA’s biannual newsletter.
PUBLISHING COMPANIES
Scholastic Inc., 730 Broadway, New York, NY 10003; (800) 325-6149.
Offers professional videos, publications, and workshops on whole language.
Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10027; (212) 678-3915.
Offers educators a variety of classroom resources and professional books on whole language.
Heinemann Educational Books Inc., 70 Court St., Portsmouth, NH 03801; (800) 541-2086.
Specializes in publications and videos on whole language.
Holistic Education Press, 39 Pearl St., Brandon, VT 05733-1007; (802) 247-8312.
Specializes in publications for holistic educators. It publishes the quarterly Holistic Education Review, which addresses the whole language theme in holistic education. An individual subscription costs $26; libraries and other institutions pay $40 each.
Richard C. Owen Publishers Inc., P.O. Box 585, Katonah, NY 10536; (800) 336-5588.
Offers a variety of professional books, videos, summer workshops, and inservice programs on whole language. For $15 a year, teachers can subscribe to the company’s quarterly newsletter, Teacher’s Networking, which includes articles by teachers and teacher educators on whole language, announcements of workshops and conferences, and listings of book recommendations.
BOOKSTORES
Finding good children’s books can be difficult. Each of the following bookstores offers a national newsletter and/ or a mail-order catalog to make the job easier.
Cheshire Cat Children’s Book Store, 5512 Connecticut Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20015; (202) 2443956.
Publishes a free newsletter, The Cheshire Cat Chronicle, which lists store events and new children’s books that can be ordered.
Hodge-Podge Books, 272 Lark St., Albany, NY 12210; (518) 4340238.
Publishes a quarterly newsletter, Chapters, which includes book reviews and book suggestions for specific topics. An annual subscription costs $4. Hodge-Podge also provides a mail-order service and sponsors seminars, workshops, and special events for teachers.
Cornerstone Bookstore, 2548 Mangum, Commerce, TX 75428; (800) 58-BOOKS.
Provides a free quarterly mailorder catalog. For an additional $2 per book, teachers can order autographed copies of selected volumes.
Yellow Book Road Children’s Books, 8923 La Mesa Blvd., La Mesa, CA 91941; (619) 463-4900.
Offers a quarterly newsletter, Yellow Book Road, which lists children’s books, both new releases and those available in paperback. The newsletter also suggests ways that teachers can use books in the classroom.
OTHER RESOURCES
Book Links, a bimonthly magazine for K-8 teachers published by Booklist Publications, includes information about literature-based curricula and bibliographies. A subscription costs $14.95 a year. Contact: Book Links, 50 E. Huron St., Chicago, IL 60611; (800) 545-2433.
Twenty-one “Occasional Papers’’ on whole language are available from the Program in Language and Literacy at the University of Arizona. The papers, written by Kenneth and Yetta Goodman, university students, and educators, are available for $3.50 each. Contact: Program in Language and Literacy, 504 College of Education, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721; (602) 621-7868.
A crisis “hotline’’ for educators who are under attack for their “meaning-centered or child-centered practice’’ is being created by the Center for the Expansion of Language and Thinking. For more information, write: Hotline, in care of Center for Establishing Dialogue, 325 E. Southern, Tempe, AZ 85282.
The Whole Language Catalog, edited by Kenneth and Yetta Goodman and Lois Bridges Bird, includes hundreds of curricular and professional resources, teachers’ observations, and useful ideas from whole language educators. This 448-page oversized book, published by American School Publishers, also provides a history of the whole language movement. Send $37.75 to: Whole Language Catalog, ASP, 1221 Farmers Lane, Suite C, Santa Rosa, CA 95405; (800) 882-2502. --Sharon K. Williams
