Drawing on findings from psychology, anthropology, and sociology, this book examines motivation for writing and connects writing with the roles each person plays--in the family, the workplace, and in social and cultural groups including school--and with the lifelong search for potential new roles. As a blueprint for changing the writing of college…

Based on a view of literacy as social practice, this book highlights the ways in which classroom teachers and educators have practiced and imagined teaching literacy in everyday classrooms. The twelve essays published here originally appeared in the NCTE journal Primary Voices K-6 and highlight four key issues essential to literacy practice in…

A program at Viers Mill Elementary School (Silver Spring, Maryland) to develop the literacy skills of both English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) and native English students is described. The program uses a co-teaching model, in which classroom teachers and ESL teachers collaborate by providing readers' and writers' workshops. The workshops have been…

Describes why and what happened when a teacher changed from viewing English teaching as a value-neutral act to teaching what matters to her. Relates what she expects from the reading and writing workshop and how raising her own voice in terms of her passions and what she values has strengthened students' voices. (SR)

Shares the experiences of one teacher who changed her way of teaching high school at-risk students by creating an environment that encouraged students to explore writing and reading topics of their choice. Finds that students changed and learned using the writing-reading workshop approach. (MG)

Describes the positive impact of using reading and writing workshops (as described in Nancie Atwell's "In the Middle") in an urban school. Argues that the workshop format can work for large classes composed of students at many different ability levels and from many different cultures and races. (RS)

Discusses development and implementation of a writing workshop that combined prekindergarteners' language development with first graders' writing experiences. (BB)

Analyzes observations of a writing workshop in a first-grade classroom, finding the children's conferencing and their peer interactions were highly influenced by gender and equity issues. Shows that boys maintained that girls were not adequate conferencing partners; girls did not understand why they were excluded by boys; and certain boys were…

Cites results of studies showing that students' language skills are not deteriorating. Suggests using class time for writing workshops to give students feedback on work-in-progress. Considers that difficulty with concepts and subject content may come across as poor writing. Notes that additional writing can be helpful without being graded. (DK)

Four articles discuss computer-assisted instruction, including (1) a middle school art and computer departments project that used LOGO to create rose window designs; (2) student journals; (3) the application of Piaget constructivism and Vygotskin social interaction to LOGO learning; and (4) computer lab writing workshops for elementary school…

Recounts the details of a 2-week summer writing institute for students from grades 3 to 12 that incorporates peer response and revising into civic and creative writing. (MG)

This paper provides an overview of the Computers and Writing Instruction Project, a field-tested curriculum for teaching writing to learning-disabled students consisting of a process approach, word processing, and strategy instruction. Its scope and sequence are described and guidelines for establishing a writer's workshop in the classroom…

Reflects on how the author's third-grade students, experienced in literary conversation from their reading workshop, transferred the practice of literary conversation to their writing workshop. (SR)

Asserts that, while most elementary classrooms have become workshop communities in which teachers and students share reading and writing, many teachers are unsure how to extend the workshop into an environment in which rigorous teaching about the craft of writing takes place. Argues that learning to write well is not divorced from authentic…

A small, but perhaps not so unusual, miracle is happening in one of the poorest elementary schools in Charleston County, South Carolina. Two kindergarten teachers at Mary Ford Elementary School, with the help of the school's art teacher and a kindergarten specialist, have effectively combined a focus on art with daily read-alouds and the use of…