Teachers in the social sciences have found that journals can be useful tools in their classes. Depending on the needs and preferences of the teacher, a variety of formats can be used: highly structured journals based on regular teacher-directed classroom and homework assignments or completely free-form diary-like personal types. No matter what the…

"Aerobic writing" is a writing center strategy designed to keep students in writing "shape." Like aerobic exercise, aerobic writing is sustained for a certain length of time and done on a regular basis at prescribed time intervals. The program requires students to write at least two times a week for approximately an hour each time. Students write,…

Curriculum leaders, program specialists, and teachers can intentionally arouse the activation of one hemisphere of the brain over the other through the use of right brain strategies in language learning. While most functions of the left hemisphere are concerned with convergent production (getting the right answer), functions of the right…

The Effective Reading in Content Areas (ERICA) teaching model comprises four stages: preparing for reading, thinking through information, extracting and organizing information, and translating information. Aspects to consider in the first stage include the preparation of ideas, text, and vocabulary. Two strategies can be used to promote reflection…

A field of study sequence designed at the University of Iowa to introduce the research paper to freshman rhetoric students encourages them to view themselves as interpretive anthropologists entering a strange culture and exploring their declared majors or areas of special interest. Each student is responsible for (1) writing an essay in response…

The legitimacy of writing as a science activity is supported in this paper and ways of incorporating it in an elementary science program are suggested. Reasons are delineated on how writing can help students improve their skills in the areas of critical thinking, problem solving, questioning, and concept clarification. Specific activities are…

On the basis of a National Humanities project proposed by the English department of a St. Louis, Missouri high school, many different approaches to drawing students into writing about and understanding literature were developed. One of three such techniques is a sequence of writing-reading-writing that offers the possibility of both enhancing the…

In a required class on literature and composition at Eastern Illinois University, students learn about the short story by writing one of their own. Their stories then become the context for an introduction to literary terminology such as point of view, setting, and use of dialogue versus narration. Having just written their own stories, students…

A study examined the composing processes of eight college freshman writers and the contexts for their writing when they composed in natural settings without narrow time constraints. Subjects, both traditional freshmen and adult learners with varying degrees of writing skill, were assigned two research tasks during which they kept tape-recordings…

As part of an effort to encourage parents to help their children in school, this home learning guide, which can also be obtained in taped versions, provides parents with learning activities with which to engage children at home. Based on research findings, the activities are divided into the following categories: curriculum of the home, reading to…

As part of an effort to encourage Hispanic parents to help their children in school, this home learning guide, which can also be obtained in taped versions, provides parents with learning activities with which to engage their children. Based on research findings, the activities are divided into the following categories: curriculum of the home,…

A study investigated the effect of ambiguity on the level of writing apprehension of English teachers and whether apprehension varied according to mode of discourse. Subjects, 28 English language arts teachers, were invited to participate in a 5-week summer writing workshop, for which they received university credit and stipends. Participants were…

In the belief that effective writing instruction can be a critical component in successful learning, and to better understand the role that writing plays in content area learning, this book presents an extensive study of writing assignments in the secondary school curriculum. Following an introduction, the book provides an overview of the project,…

A study of the writing of 12 sixth-grade students of English as a second language (ESL) compared the quantity and maturity of writing in three assigned tasks and unassigned entries in dialogue journals. The assigned tasks varied in topic control, audience, and purpose. Qualities of the writing were examined using measures of quantity, complexity,…

Several ideas for implementing writing in the content areas are presented. The ideas, which were submitted by teachers and students, include: (1) a class called "Thinking-Writing" which uses freewriting, clustering, and written dialogue with an imaginary tutee; (2) a testimonial on the importance of knowing how to write in adult life;…