Describes the Nebraska Literacy Project, a 5-week workshop for K-12 teachers modeled after the Nebraska Writing Project. Shows how teachers can encourage students to look closely at their own literacy histories and their daily practices as readers and writers. Presents the literacy histories as recorded by some participants. (HB)

Suggests that one of the greatest outlets for the middle school voices in one particular classroom is the students' immersion into poetry during writing workshops. Describes a classroom environment that encourages children to express themselves in writing, speech, and action each day. Presents numerous examples of students' poetry. (RS)

Presents an analysis of teachers' perceptions of themselves as writers with the goal of understanding how teachers' writing ability affects their work and qualifications as writing instructors. Places 32 teachers participating in a 3-day inservice writing workshop into 3 separate "identity concepts" (categories) and a fourth miscellaneous group.…

Suggests that keeping a writer's notebook can be a unit of study in itself and that students can learn to use the notebook as a workbench for drafting, crafting, revising, and editing. Describes the author's work using writer's notebooks across several classrooms and grade levels. (RS)

Aims for students to explore spontaneous ways of finding material for their poems by suppressing control over their subject matter and letting their unconscious minds do the work. Uses a poem of William Carlos Williams, "Red Wheelbarrow," both with K-2 students and adults in a poetry workshop. Illustrates class procedures and activities…

Explores how issues of power and identity are embedded within the cultures of a first-grade writing classroom. Explores the ways in which children's instructional stances--their responses to the ways they are positioned as writers in the classroom--affect their literacy learning. Presents the theoretical and research contexts in which educator's…

Describes a teacher's experiences in rural Brazil as she delivered a 5-day inservice teacher education workshop on incorporating writing into the curriculum. Notes that the minister of education, a student in the course, announced that she intended to expand the program by having volunteers from among current workshop members serve as mentors for…

Describes how using writers' workshop with mixed groups of elderly and children has benefits for all parties. Describes one intergenerational program bringing together elders from a writing group at a local community center with elementary school children. Discusses initial reasons for the project, shares some activities, and presents some things…

Teachers are likely to create authentic learning environments for their students only if such contexts exist for them. However, it is more important than ever to look closely at professional development spaces that have been sustained over time in order to bolster teachers' agency, giving them the courage to teach against the grain. In this…

The purpose of this collaborative schools-university study was to investigate how the explicit instruction of literary devices during designated literacy sessions could improve the quality of children's narrative writing. A guiding question for the study was: Can children's writing can be enhanced by teachers drawing attention to the literary…

In light of the tenure and promotion needs of junior faculty to demonstrate high levels of scholarship, achieve strong publication records, and develop successful proposals for extramural funding, this article explores the impact of providing a structure and a process for mentoring education faculty toward the attainment of tenure and promotion…

Background/Context: While the arts are being elbowed out of school curricula, new community-based education venues for the arts are emerging in cities across the country. This article describes Richard Hugo House, an arts center for creative writing in Seattle, which attracts people of different ages and sociocultural backgrounds who participate…

This article begins with a "snapshot" of a fifth grade writing workshop and its study of op-ed writing to show an inquiry in action. The framework for this inquiry involves immersing students in reading multiple examples of the kind of text the teacher would like them to write, studying closely how the texts are crafted, and writing their own…

Bringing together information elementary school teachers need to make balanced literacy instruction a reality, this book presents more than 90 short articles designed to be read in a brief period of time and suitable for use in after-school workshops. It presents ideas and instructional approaches teachers have found most valuable and effective in…

A case study examined assumptions of current written language pedagogies, particularly the links between oral performance, literacy pedagogy, and the use of the explicit, analytic language valued in school. The subject, a young African-American child enrolled in an urban K/1 classroom, used school writing activities and the music of language to…