Notes that a difficulty with the multigenre paper assignment is that educators assume that students are familiar enough with the various genres to write skillfully in the genres they select. Suggests that multigenre assignments can be improved by changing forms and format; changing perspectives; and changing boundaries. Concludes that multigenre…

Interviews Nancy Larson. Notes that in 1976, Nancy Larson joined the staff of the Teachers and Writers Collaborative and later became its director. Discusses in this interview insights gained from teaching and reflections on educational trends, writing movements, and visionary teachers. (PM)

Illustrates how significant numbers of college students are "lost": they are unsituated in academic space. Suggests a rigorous exploration of the changing academic space outside of school offices and off campuses. Presents 4 assignments that provide a conceptual place (a topic) while also prompting students to make meaning out of the people-places…

Proposes that a local homework club can provide the type of setting that supports a school's instructional priorities. Notes that homework clubs are also important because they foster individualization of instruction. Discusses key elements of effective homework clubs. Suggests that club activities can be enhanced through effective staff…

Describes techniques which teach students how to read science to help them overcome their anxieties about the subject and their desire to avoid it. (MG)

Techniques are discussed for encouraging students to write thoughtful papers about field trips. Greater student involvement can be achieved by cultivating a sense of ownership of the writing. Topics for before, during, and after the trip are suggested in such functional writing areas as instrumental, regulatory, interactional, personal, heuristic,…

Describes a group writing assignment in which high school seniors voice their most common concerns in an open letter to their parents. (KEH)

Describes nine prewriting activities using supermarket tabloids as the model for producing a newspaper on mythology. (RS)

Reports a successful application of writing across the curriculum theory and practice at the introductory accounting level. Discusses the advantages of informal and formal writing assignments. Presents a number of suggestions designed to facilitate the use of writing across the curriculum techniques and to help ensure their successful application.…

Presents an approach used in high school English classes to connect students with the world outside high school. Encourages students to take risks by selecting a project topic, choosing and inviting a guest speaker, preparing for the visit, reading and writing on related topics, and doing a follow-up project. (SR)

Describes a research paper course that takes its topics from the popular culture of the 1930s. Reports that focusing on the 1930s has produced successful--and satisfied--research paper writers. (RS)

Explains why rereading should be an integral part of instructional practice and student behavior. Recommends that teachers of secondary school students give students instructional guidance when asking them to reread a text. (MG)

Describes six remedial activities that teachers can use to help their learning-disabled students improve their handwriting. Provides a rationale and a step-by-step example to illustrate how to carry out each activity. (MS)

Explores the advantages of using whole books in teaching basic English courses at Bergen Community College rather than workbooks and readers, using examples from student journals to illustrate students' reactions to their reading. Argues that longer works provide a context for critical thinking and reading exercises and a familiarity of character…

Analyzed 17 personal attributes of 160 undergraduate students who wrote reports on a computer or by hand, and compared differences in the quality of computer and handwritten reports with each student's personal attributes. Concludes that some attributes do relate to computer writing quality. (JMV)