A testament to the belief that K-12 teachers should be writers, this book invites readers into the classrooms and minds of teachers who write. The fiction, poetry, personal essays, and two teacher interviews celebrate the power of writing and invite teachers to become more seriously involved in writing for themselves. The classrooms described in…

Brief essays discuss (1) a teacher's discovery of the difficulty of the writing process, (2) various methods of writing instruction that are still only a part of the whole, (3) the difference between children's writing at home and at school, (4) a method for teaching poetry, and (5) a fifth-grade book writing project for first-grade students. (HTH)

The four videotapes and a viewing guide cover all the practical components necessary for establishing and implementing a successful writing workshop, including the importance of choice, creating a risk-taking environment, the difference between skills and craft, the writer's notebook, the writing conference, revision, the role of literature, and…

Reports the highlights of the first year of the National Study of Secondary School Writing, which provides new information about secondary school writing instruction. (RL)

The Motivation to Write Profile (MWP) is an instrument which was designed to help teachers gain insights into students' writing motivation. This paper describes the development, administration, and scoring of the MWP and suggests practical ways to use resulting information to create a classroom environment which supports young writers as they…

Aimed at junior and senior high school teachers and artists in residence, this book urges teachers and students to read and write poetry "as though their lives depended upon it," and to breathe life into classroom writing traditions that are not hands-on or intense. Each chapter is set in the classroom. Poems by students and teacher…

Examines how different types of prewriting activities, teacher motivations, and classroom environments influence the student writing process. (MM)

Intended to help freshman composition teachers develop productive audience strategy in their students, this paper explores useful and functional techniques elicited from expert writers to facilitate the generation of internal audiences for the typical college student in a required writing class. The paper encourages small-group peer discussion to…

To determine students' different but equally valid ways of dealing with the composing process, a college instructor developed a questionnaire assessing personality styles. The questionnaire distinguishes between (1) approaches to the writing process, (2) preferences for types of instruction, (3) preferences for types of writing and organizational…

This article offers guidelines to help young children who are deaf move through six developmental stages of learning to write: (1) observing writing; (2) scribbling and drawing; (3) communicating writing to others; (4) requesting assistance in writing; (5) copying writing; and (6) beginning to write independently. (DB)

The most used model for empirical research on the writing process is based on cognitive psychology and does not take into account affective phenomena, although it has long been recognized that affect (that is, the noncognitive aspects of mental activity) plays a large role in writing and learning to write. To understand the complete picture, it is…

Noting that educators need to capture the interest of primary students early on to make lifelong writers out of them, this paper discusses ways to encourage the writing process in the primary grades. The paper discusses the philosophy of the writing process, what experts say about writing, setting up the environment, writing with lower primary…

Offering guidance on diagnostic and developmental techniques, this teacher's guide helps teachers to assess pupils' understanding and day-to-day progress in writing and to identify appropriate next steps to help pupils make progress. The teacher's guide examines the process of writing, offering guidance on classroom activities relating to…

This book is designed for teachers who are looking for approaches to make the teaching of writing fresh. The book offers suggestions for writing that are appropriate across the curriculum and for students in Grades K-12. It contains ideas for enlivening students' writing experiences, including an innovative use of the "helping circle." It advises…

Despite current process theories of composition, many teachers of writing still adopt traditional pedagogical approaches in the classroom. Under the "old pedagogy," correctness is valued over content, revision is approached as cosmetic change, formulaic rhetorical modes are taught before students set pen to paper, and the lecture is…