Describes how a first grade teacher runs a "writer's workshop" based on the process approach to writing. Discusses how children develop their ideas for stories, share their writing with their peers, and decide whether or not to "publish" their writing. Notes that the students are enthusiastic about participating in the workshop. (RS)

The way in which the English Department of the University of South Alabama handled the large influx of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students in its freshman writing program is described. The university developed classes especially for ESL students with the assistance of the department's ESL specialist. (13 references) (LB)

Describes how, in a second-/third-grade classroom, and in the context of writing workshop, another kind of community developed--an informal but long-lasting "writing club" with eight core members who worked collaboratively and developed a story topic that became the dominant story topic pattern throughout the remainder of the school year. (SR)

Discusses how two first grade teachers collaborated to create a poetry unit as part of their reading/writing workshop. Presents sample minilessons and poems written by students. (PRA)

Describes how a sixth-grade teacher turned sluggish Friday afternoons into student writing workshops. Students wrote essays on topics of their own choosing, exchanged papers with classmates to correct spelling and grammar, and provided each other with suggestions to improve the essays. Over the course of the school year, student writing improved…

Describes the process and positive results of restructuring a basic English classroom which contained foreign students, special education students, and students with disciplinary problems. Shows how journal writing and writing workshops helped these students. (PRA)

Discusses the experiences of a writing teacher as she conducts inservice teacher workshops and writing workshops for students. Notes that, when students are invited to write with passion about those things that they really understand and to which they have an emotional connection, teachers may be surprised at what students can do. (RS)

Presents a conversation with Linda Rief, a middle school language-arts teacher, concerning writing workshops in the classroom. (RS)

Notes that a major issue in literacy instruction today is whether commercial reading programs emphasizing phonemic awareness and phonics are more effective than teacher-designed programs that focus on literature-based reading and process writing with integrated skill instruction. Reviews two books that address this controversy. Presents seven…

The current development of mentorship programs for gifted students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong is explained with examples from the search for potential mentors within the university community and a discussion of the development and operation of the mentorship program of Chinese creative writing for Hong Kong students. (Contains…

Describes a writing workshop for preservice teachers that demystifies writing and looks at students' (all future teachers) assumptions about what a writer is and what writing is. Notes how this helps students understand and visualize a new set of roles and possibilities for themselves as writers, about who can be a writer, and about what purposes…

Includes three articles that discuss ways to encourage teenage writers. Highlights include guidelines for starting teen writing groups in school libraries; starting a teen print publication in a public library; and an interview with a young adult author, Chris Crutcher, who discusses how to write for teens. (LRW)

Presents an educational case study in which an English-as-a-Second-Language student brings a draft of his argument essay for freshman composition to a tutor in a university writing center. Presents a response that examines several ways in which the study has challenged an educator to think more deeply about beliefs. (SG)

Present a writing workshop incorporating drawing into the creative process. Finds that children become more focused when they add art as part of the process in a writing workshop. Notes that throughout the workshop, the author constantly pays attention to her students, asking them questions and posing problems to encourage growth in rigor and…

Two teachers reflect on their combined experiences in teaching middle school, teaching preservice teachers, and teaching online in order to adapt and apply strategies for bringing positive experiences in a computer-based environment to middle grade students. The result is five valuable lessons, each of which is explained theoretically and…