Whole language practices in first grade reading instruction

This study examined, through classroom observations, the degree to which whole language practices have become a part of the reading instruction offered by first‐grade teachers in six school districts in the western United States. For the purpose of finding, describing, and timing whole language practices, 16 teachers were observed for a total of 5,897 minutes of reading instruction. The results indicated that first‐grade teachers spent less than 10 percent of reading instructional time engaged in practices which could be considered in agreement with whole language theory. The fact that basal reader programs remain firmly entrenched in first‐grade reading instruction was also reconfirmed. Conventional reading practices related to the use of basal readers, workbooks, and worksheets accounted for nearly 70 percent of the reading time. The remainder of the reading instructional time observed was spent in the categories of transition and non‐instruction.