Describes how freeform poetry can be created out of newspaper or magazine articles. Provides a sample student poem. (MM)

Finds that the explicit definition of writing in history is "argumentation" but that the implicit expectation is for narrative. Argues that this apparent contradiction highlights the central function of academic historical discourse: the establishment of an autonomous subject of meaning that speaks from outside history about a distant and…

Reprints a 1980 article from this journal on an experience the author had as a college freshman that aptly illustrates the adage, "Write what you know." Updates the article with an Afterword commenting on the earlier writing. (SR)

Describes using music with eighth-grade students for generating story ideas to write about. (SR)

Discusses how a professional writer and teacher of writing helps children write better by incorporating specific images taken from their "screens"--the places where they see things in their heads. Presents numerous examples of students' poems. Notes the "screens" can also be used in writing stories or essays. (RS)

Various aspects of writing style are discussed to propose concrete methods for improving students' performance. Topics covered include the relationship between syntactic and cognitive complexity and classroom techniques and the reformulation technique as applied to student writing samples. (Contains 20 references.) (LB)

Examines the writing assignments and instruction in 30 introductory literature textbooks. Finds three types of writing assignments: the "ever popular" critical paper, the expressive paper, and the literary paper. Presents excerpts of student papers to demonstrate that writing on expressive and literary topics can help students see the…

Suggests that awkwardness in writing (like good writing) is an interactive nexus of writer, text, and reader and is a matter of subjective judgment. Argues that awkwardness in student writing is a positive sign of a writer's grappling with language complexity. Concludes that awkwardness is rhetorically motivated and therefore complex but…

Addresses the issues of whether students derive satisfaction from writing and whether they consider their writing tasks to be purposeful. Discusses teacher responses to student writing, and asserts that most responses indicate an almost exclusive emphasis on secretarial shortcomings. Suggests that teachers draw attention to clarity, honesty,…

Describes a number of poetry writing activities used with third and fifth graders in a week-long poetry project. Includes 14 poems by students. (SR)

Describes a professional writer's successful one-month residency for reluctant junior-high writers. (SR)

Discusses how to successfully integrate revision into an elementary writing program. Describes preconditions for revision and principles for revision. Presents three drafts of a student's story. (SR)

Describes a class project in which students write a detailed story of their family heritage and how they came to live in the United States. Notes that students also paint murals telling the story of their family and present the story and the mural on videotape. Presents four such stories and murals. (RS)

Ponders the definition of an American, and offers some responses to that question from high school students around the United States. (SR)

Discusses techniques and lessons used to assist students in reading with a writer's eye, observing the world with a writer's eye, and developing the craft of writing, including the writer's notebook; grabber leads; show, not tell; unforgettable language; and voice. Notes that developing a community of writers is essential to the successful use of…