Describes an exercise in which students demonstrate what they have learned by working in groups to find incorrect grammar in newspaper writing. (SR)

Suggests implementing a pen pal program using students in the same school or from a school in the same district as a way to encourage written communication among elementary school students. (HTH)

Describes the uses of 2 texts by John Holt for teaching grades 6-8, and high school on up. Relates how the texts encourage students to write from their own experiences in vivid detail and discover the value of reading their work aloud to build awareness of their writing "voice." (PA)

Offers five tips from writing teachers on writing activities that work well in their classrooms. (SR)

Describes a 10-week workshop at an alternative high school in New York City that explored how words come into a language and that involved students in writing their own reference books of words not yet in any dictionary (their "personal dictionaries"). Contains a 22-item annotated dictionary source list. (RS)

Describes an informal class for teenaged writers on sonnets. Shows that the young writers, after reading some actual sonnets, can work with this 14-line poetic form. Illustrates with examples of the sonnets written by the participants. (PA)

Describes the use of "poemakers," sheets of white paper with special drawings pre-printed on them that have blank lines where words go. Describes using these poemakers as springboards for writing in poetry workshops for students from first grade through twelfth, as well as with college students. Includes one finished example, followed by four…

Describes an exercise for basic writers which encompasses reading, listening, and writing. Finds that Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" has an effective vocabulary, a first-person conversational tone for the "mad" voice, and a second-person direct address that makes it easy to follow. Notes that inexperienced readers can…

Focuses on the use of music as instructional material in early literacy instruction. Uses specific examples of music to highlight concepts of print, a sense of story and sequence, phonemic awareness and phonics, background knowledge and vocabulary, basic spelling patterns, and early writing activities. Concludes with an invitation for…

Concept maps are graphical ways of working with ideas and presenting information. They reveal patterns and relationships and help students to clarify their thinking, and to process, organize and prioritize. Displaying information visually--in concept maps, word webs, or diagrams--stimulates creativity. Being able to think logically teaches…

One of the author's main goals as a teacher is to impart the skills necessary for students to be successful in science, and that means teaching them how to think and write like scientists. At times, though, it seemed as though the author had exhausted all avenues without ever reaching this goal. At the beginning of each year, she starts her…

In this article, the author explores what a sense of place is and how various authors convey that in their work. She states that writers imbue their work with a sense of place through longing and distance from that place, distilled through imagination. "Could Harper Lee have created Maycomb, Alabama on the page without leaving the South and…

This book directs the individual reader to self-expression and discovery through writing techniques. The book presents a series of writing exercises that helps a person explore his or her past, present, and future. The exercises in the book are grouped into three stages of the self-discovery process: (1) "Remembering," tapping memories;…

This book is in favor of the inclusion of co-authoring in writing instruction and provides theoretical and research background to support the value of this strategy, which involves more than just peer editing and small-group revision. According to the book, co-authoring builds naturally on the social emphasis of the writing process and…

The traditional spelling curriculum emphasized that pupils learn to spell a specific set of words through memorization. However, major problems existed pertaining to using that method of teaching. Pupils soon forgot the correct spelling of memorized words. Educational psychologists have long advocated that pupils perceive knowledge as being…