A set of writing assignments and class activities designed to help students analyze their own writing processes, define their own strengths and weaknesses as writers, set their own goals, devise plans for achieving those goals, and evaluate their own progress is presented in this paper. The assignments are explained in detail, and suggestions for…

In order to study the complexity of sentence combining in college students, 32 students from five basic composition courses were asked to perform three writing tasks at three distinct times during the eight-week instructional period. Each student was asked to rewrite a passage of kernel sentences, to write a composition in the argumentative mode,…

Northampton County Area Community College (Pennsylvania) studied changes in student writing ability using a research paradigm described in the ERIC Clearinghouse for Junior Colleges' fifth topical paper (ED 030 422). Students in seven English classes were randomly assigned to write on one of two topics at the beginning of the semester, and asked…

This paper proposes that the personal theme is a solution to the problem of motivating high school students to write better. The author, a high school English teacher, found that his students wrote poorly because they were writing on topics of which they had no intimate knowledge and because the theme assignments pleased the teacher, not the…

Presented in this article are suggested strategies for developing skills in written communication. The topics addressed include spelling and syntax. Emphasis is on individualized student needs and making instruction functional and relevant to the requirements of today's society. (EB)

A discussion of the use of an accident report form, especially for practice in past tense usage. A lesson plan is outlined as follows: introduction using slides, a question-answer session between two sets of students and the actual writing of the report. (Text is in French.) (AMH)

Provides a rationale for the use of writing as a learning vehicle in the teaching of history. Also provides some practical guidelines illustrating how such a writing/history model might be developed. (Author/JK)

A self-instructional program for nurses to help them formulate clear, measurable objectives and to determine appropriate teaching techniques for patient education is presented. Exercises for writing objectives, review, and posttest are included. (MF)

Measures the effects of infusing writing components into a university reading laboratory. Reports that reading improvement was significant with writing infusions but that results are inconclusive due to lack of true experimental design. (AEW)

Provides teachers with instructions on effectively using student journals in classes at all levels. Gives examples of different types of personal writing students can engage in, suggests ways to respond to them, and lists benefits of and reservations about using journals in writing classes. (SKC)

Ideas are presented for enhancing written expression programs for learning-disabled students. The ideas include, among others, creating a writing center in the classroom; encouraging students to share their writing with the teacher and classmates; capitalizing on such student interests as personal correspondence, a journal, and important…

Approaches a writing assignment in an all-girls classroom by differentiating between what men think is funny ("guyfun") and what women think is funny ("galfun"). (NKA)

Describes a study designed to determine whether the use of computer word processing would improve both the amount and quality of revision done by high school student writers. The effects of word processing on composition length and revision, and students' attitudes toward writing and word processing are discussed. (47 references) (CLB)

Investigates the implications of conceiving writing-as-performance. Claims that public speaking compares closely with a writing-as-performance course. Focuses on students' perception of themselves as writers and of their audience and presents several analogies comparing writing with other performance activities. (JD)