Intended for elementary level students, this book presents 12 writing ideas and several suggestions on how students can make a book using their writing. Each writing idea is presented with a brief description (addressed to the student), several examples of student writing, and a blank page on which to write. Writing ideas include freewriting,…

Describes a teaching method which can be used in college level sociology classes to improve student writing. The teacher provides students with concrete examples of well-written work by other students in the class to compare with their own. The example clearly illustrates what the teacher expects from the students. (AM)

Discusses back-to-basics emphasis on writing skills and describes thematic approach of a five-week session for high school seniors with little writing experience. Student pre- and posttest essays are appended. (KC)

Tells how students in a journalism class learn copyreading skills through reading and editing each other's work. (GT)

The five approaches to the teaching of writing presented in this article represent different assumptions and different views of writing; it is suggested that the teacher may select one or more of these theories as appropriate for use by individual students. (JD)

To dramatize the need for logical organization and precise definition, students are asked to write essays describing specific everyday objects (e.g., screwdriver, nutpick). After the essay is read aloud the class tries to guess the item and comments on the effectiveness of the description. (DS)

Both a guide and an anthology, this book is for teachers (and self-teachers) who would like to explore the list poem, a flexible poetic form that can be used by beginning writers (from kindergarten to 12th grade) as well as by the most sophisticated. The book: offers practical advice on how to teach list poetry; describes how to work with students…

A student was able to overcome flatness in his writing when he focused on the process of writing rather than the product. The student's draft of an essay about a symbol the student found meaningful contained spelling and grammatical errors and was also "flat." The essay had no apparent thesis, demonstrated lack of success in issues of…

For teachers of speech-oriented basic writers, the choices of what to teach--and what to count as learning--ought to be guided by those requirements of academic culture that are indispensable for basic writers to know, specifically the use of written language, a discourse specialized in both form and function and differing substantially from…

Discusses a technique for helping students see the value of revision by using a previously written and revised composition as an illustration. (TJ)

Presents a high school student's story about fishing, analyzes the story, and provides study guide questions for students intended to amplify the reading. Invites "English Journal" readers to use this story and study guide in their own classrooms. (JG)

Using an approach developed and refined over a combined 44 years of teaching, this book encourages literature teachers at the high school and college levels to empower their students as readers--and meaning-makers--of literature. The book presents results of a research study in which 288 students, ranging from junior high school to graduate…

Fundamental changes are needed in English classes if writing is to be taught. Students must have time to write, and they must have someone reading and responding to their writing. Students need to pay attention to their writing and the writing of others, and this writing should be as important as well-known literary works. (MD)

Presents a case study suggesting that teachers who know how to analyze adult literature can use similar skills to analyze children's stories, leading to an increased understanding and sensitivity of the child's creative efforts. (RL)

Suggestions are offered for involving advanced Spanish-language students more directly in watching and making later use of videotapes. Steps include preparing students to watch the videos, writing a survey on the video topic, and creating a computerized class newsletter. (LB)