There are a number of reasons for using creative writing in elementary and secondary English curricula. When students practice using figurative and literal language, they improve their speaking abilities, and their language becomes more concrete, more explicit, more descriptive, and more interesting. Writing poems and short stories forces students to discipline their writing, emphasizes conciseness, and sharpens grammar skills. Additionally, writing within these art forms teaches students how to read the forms, developing analytical skills that expository writing assignments cannot always approach. Knowledge of the elements of specific literary forms can also be taught through creative writing and are important in constructing a repertoire of writing skills. Self-expression is always an ingredient in all good critical essays, descriptions, and explanations. As students write and analyze literature and their own writing, they develop a better understanding of the different levels of English usage that are appropriate to a particular form of writing. Creative writing, then, is a good medium for teaching rhetorical writing skills and for integrating the various elements of the English curriculum. (An appendix provides creative writing activities at the word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, and multi-paragraph levels.) (RL)