Follows the progress of three young boys as they learn to collaborate in school. Shows the importance of allowing students to talk through their writing and reading tasks and to recognize the social and listening skills that develop along with their writing. (MG)

Presents a case study of one six-year-old that suggests that e-mail messages foster different skills and conventions than does print-based letter writing. Hopes to illuminate the writing practices children might develop as they engage in e-mail communication. (SG)

Discusses how Wera, a recent immigrant from Poland, uses memoir as a tool to reflect on her life while shaping her identity between school and family. Presents three scenes to describe her work. Discusses how the three scenes focus on using life knowledge and experiences in building of self, writing as a tool for identity construction, and…

Presents a case study of a fourth grade boy writing science fiction in a writing workshop. (HTH)

Documents one child's development in reading and writing in a remedial program and raises questions about the possible advantages of integrating instruction in writing into remedial programs. (HTH)

Discusses recent advances in technology that make it possible to integrate images, sounds, and text in multimedia computer environments. Presents several case studies of intermediate-grade students who, although reluctant writers, explored their potential by using visual and aural media as sources for texts. (RS)

Focuses on what the authors have learned from six exemplary teachers of writing who teach within high-stakes accountability systems. Notes that based on what they have seen in the teachers' classrooms and discussed with them and their students, their response to the reality of high-stakes testing is the need to "teach true and to the test in…

Draws on a series of case studies and instructional projects to illustrate the importance of proofreading and developing a "spelling conscience" and, ultimately, learning to spell conventionally. Argues that proofreading is a special kind of reading that requires readers to "read like a speller," and that proofreading should be an integral part of…

Describes fourth-grade students' experiences during a concentrated research writing project. Shows through a case study how students learned to present objective information through a narrative vehicle. (HTH)

Compares the progression of writing skills of two girls from first through third grades, showing development of style, persona, spelling, and grammar. Discusses the implications for the teaching of writing on an individual and classroom basis. (HTH)

Describes how a teacher finds value in popular culture and violent writing by closely examining the writing of a student who laces his stories with explosions and battles. Finds that once he began to see the similarities between the media his student experiences, the writing the student prefers, and his own favorite media and writing, the teacher…

Discusses six ways in which writing workshop and specific practices like author's chair can actually make learning to write more difficult if they are implemented in inappropriate ways. Presents a case study. Advocates focusing more on what the child is trying to do and less on what the teacher is trying to teach. (SR)

Suggests that personal writing poses both opportunities and risks in writing classrooms. Discusses the experiences of two children in a fifth/sixth-grade writing process classroom. Notes that benefits of personal writing are opportunities for authenticity, finding voice, and a therapeutic value; whereas risks include coercion of students who are…

Describes a two-day residence in a fifth- and sixth-grade classroom of poet Arnold Adoff. Presents his interaction with five students as they struggle with their poetry writing. (HTH)

Describes observations of one student's writing process and the ease with which the student transformed prose into poetry. Discusses what the teacher learned from the observations about the sensitivity and energy of eighth-grade writing students. (HTH)