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…

Fifteen upper-elementary teachers (regular and resource room) agreed to enact a new instructional model called Cognitive Strategy Instruction in Writing (CSIW). The model emphasized that teachers should model the cognitive processes of writers, scaffold dialogue with students about their writing, and create a social context in which writers…

Describes a case study of a Norwegian deaf boy with severe reading disorder. Initiates a holistic approach to writing instruction based on process-oriented writing, Norwegian sign language, drawings, and word processing augmented with a word prediction system called PAL (Predictive Adaptive Lexicon). Concludes that this approach managed to get…

Offers one teacher's account of a year of process approach to writing instruction in her fifth-grade class. Focuses on the importance of not getting caught within a narrow vision when reflecting on classroom practice. Notes the crucial role students need to play in instructional decision making. (SR)

Describes a two-year teacher research project on how one teacher improved writing workshops for her middle school students. (SR)

An "authentic dialogue" is presented consisting of two case studies that describe how a process learning teacher became a co-learner with her students through the teaching method of natural learning. Two middle school students, a 13-year-old boy named Josh who dashes off his assignments with whirlwind nonchalance and a fourth-grade girl named…

A fourth-grade teacher developed a unit on writing designed to help his students go from oral to written text after finding that only 4 of the 22 in his classroom had the organizational and writing skills to get their ideas on paper. The basis of the unit was a unique problem which the teacher himself was trying to solve in real life; namely, how…

Describes a pilot project designed to foster quality literacy projects by fifth-grade students; establish a positive working relationship between fifth-grade teachers and the Chapter 1 reading teachers; and provide an enriching atmosphere for the use of computers. Notes that the project uses portfolios and a process model of writing. Notes staff…

Describes the Dublin model, a program which uses thematic units or individualized reading assignments to focus on popular adolescent literature and includes projects that demonstrate students' comprehension of text. Discusses the formulation, implementation, and assessment of this program. (RS)