Since Students in Freshman English face the problem of feeling that they cannot begin to match the professional writers whose essays they read, an experiment was designed in which instructors used well-written themes of fellow students as examples of good writing on a level more attainable than the professional essayist. Pairs of themes--one well…

The writing of students at colleges of education about their teaching experiences and the writing done for them by children in infant and junior schools comprise this account of attempts to answer such questions as "What makes children want to write?" and "What is the relation between a writer's experience and imagination?" Excerpts from college…

A project is described in which American history students analyze comic books to determine their appeal and structure, and then create their own comic books entitled "Causes of the American Revolution". Concludes that, despite some problems, the project was fun and rewarding. (DB)

Defines "Techlish" as a wordy, awkward form of English prevalent in technical reports. Supplies numerous verbose examples and suggestions for avoiding this downfall. (CP)

Provides instructions for making slides of students' assignments to be used as a basis for discussion of newswriting techniques. (KS)

Describes a reader response heuristic which approaches expository texts on a feeling and experiential level. Focuses on the work of one student writer to show how the student's interpretations of a text on Arab-Israeli relations was mediated by the student's feelings and experiences. (MM)

Argues that composition is a distinct discipline, separate from literature and literary studies. Discusses problems associated with using literature in composition classes. Asserts that although traditional aesthetic literature is not necessary in the composition class, with limited use it can strengthen student writing. (MM)

Notes interest in recent years in using a particular type of children's literature, the predictable book, as a springboard for stimulating language experiences. Suggests that, although this practice has merits, teachers should avoid engineering literacy tasks to the point where most of the work is done for the student. (NH)

When given the chance to select their own research topics, decide which genres to write in, and determine how to present their findings, students assume ownership and take pride in their work. This book leads teachers through the multigenre research papers with upper elementary students. The book explains how teachers can organize their…

This book makes clear the connection between classroom writing and everyday writing by identifying common reader-centered writing features fundamental to both genres. It uses a building metaphor, a unique method that views writing as the putting together of ideas piece by piece to form a coherent structure. This process-oriented approach helps…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1998 Writing Assessment measured student writing performance at the 4th, 8th, and 12th grades. Scoring guides for three different writing purposes for each grade allowed scorers to objectively evaluate students' work. This issue of NAEPfacts includes an 8th-grade informative writing scoring…

Developed at Roosevelt Elementary School in Long Beach Unified School District (California), this CD-ROM presents Children Teaching Children (CTC), a literacy project intended to assist students to read, write, and publish their original work. It is part of the Program Improvement Initiative, an educational reform effort initiated by the…

This handbook presents an overview of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment and a description of the Writing Assessment. Districts are encouraged to use the procedures and methods described to create prompts and score writing samples as part of their district-level assessment program. After an introduction and overview of the Pennsylvania…

The popular "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series of books demonstrates the tremendous desire of people in all walks of life to tell their stories. A professor of reading/language arts methods for students in a program leading to teacher certification reads to his classes every day from a wide variety of materials, including stories from…