In writing, as in conversation, there are implicit boundaries which separate various modes of communication, and these boundaries cause exclusion, discomfort, and misunderstanding. The existence of these boundaries results in a number of issues, such as the categorization of texts, the differences between writing for English classes and writing in…

To understand literature, it is necessary for a reader to make connections between the text of the literary work and the text of the reader's life. Student autobiographical writing before reading can be used to enhance students' ability to make such connections. Autobiographical writing helps students apply relevant life experience that might not…

Using math journals on a weekly basis in second- and third-grade classrooms allows students to proceed at their own rate to converge on an understanding of mathematical concepts using their own experiences. Such journals also provide teachers with a unique diagnostic tool. Students' journal entries regarding telling time and the concept of…

This report examines a variety of ways that the QUILL program for teaching writing was realized in elementary classrooms. In particular, the report looks at the different ways purposeful writing was achieved using MAILBAG, the electronic mail component of QUILL. The analysis shows that innovations in education should be viewed as objects created…

Combining freshman composition and introduction to literature courses can make students active participants in what they read. In one course, students were instructed to read a literary work for a class. When the class met, the students were to write the name of the assigned story, the author, and anything they wanted to write about the story.…

It does not take a computer expert to teach students how to use word processing software to prewrite, write, revise, and edit a professional-looking paper. Just a small amount of expertise allows students to work independently as long as they have access to a computer and the necessary software. The computer also facilitates interactive learning…

The situational approach is one effective way of presenting students with technical writing assignments that represent "a close approximation of the writing chores which befall the gainfully employed technical writer in industry." The approach includes elements of both simulation and game playing, with some significant differences. The situational…

To explain the nature of the response process in journal writing, a simplified version of the theory of speech genres proposed by Mikhail Bakhtin is applied to excerpts from a journal by a college junior. Bakhtin's model of communication is continually interactive and dialogic, as though all voices from the speaker/writer's past are poised at the…

A hands-on strategy for children to use in determining how sentences and paragraphs work is based on the easily understood notion of topic placement in sentences, with reference to the less easily definable terms of coherence and cohesion. Children can learn that the topic is expected at the beginning of the sentence (followed by a comment) and…

This booklet contains a capsule history of the Mississippi Junior College Creative Writing Association (MJCCWA), its constitution, and the following selected student manuscripts from the past ten years of the MJCCWA's journal, "The Junior College Writer": (1) "Chronology of a Hunt" (William Patrick Story); (2) "House of…

In order to describe the developmental patterns of writing and rereading from writing of kindergarten children across group and individual contexts, a study asked 123 kindergarten children in Palatine, Illinois, to write and reread stories of their own composition over a school year. Children were asked to write in group classroom conditions at…

Journal writing can be used as a tool for the assessment of teaching while allowing students to have an active and expressive voice in their learning. Journal writing provides an excellent interactive format in which students can more freely express their understanding or lack of understanding of the subject matter. The entries also frequently…

Every student is excited reading his own writing published in books. (JH)

This guidebook was developed by a team of elementary and secondary school English teachers to help teachers of all subjects with the difficult tasks of evaluating students' expository writing and stimulating student growth in the art and craft of writing. The twelve parts of the guidebook deal with the following topics: guidelines for giving a…

The objectives of this packet on communication skills are to teach elementary students how to organize their ideas, follow directions, correct their own errors, recognize and write a topic sentence, recognize and write a concluding sentence, recognize sentence fragments and run-on sentences, write a paragraph, and effectively communicate with…