A sixth grade teacher discusses how she enhanced student writing and thinking skills by having them collaborate on a class monster story. The article describes how they created the story. A copy of the story is included. (SM)

Describes the "kids2kids Writing Circle," a national electronic writing project inspired by an elementary teacher who interested his students in writing by sending their work to another class electronically. Information on necessary equipment, how to participate, and how to register with the electronic mail network is included. (SM)

Practical ideas for helping students compose, revise, edit, and publish their own stories are presented by a teacher of the hearing impaired. Other copies include organization of classroom space for writing projects, directions for binding storybooks, and ways of sharing stories with classmates. (JW)

Student-created "reading and writing books" are described as a technique for motivating beginning readers. Writing and illustrating their own books can help elementary-age students build vocabulary, learn word recognition, improve reading skills, and become familiar with sentence structures. Several book topics are suggested. (JDD)

Authors of "For the Love of Writing" suggest projects that will teach pupils how to write letters that will get responses, thus stimulating interest. Techniques for writing complimentary letters, mystery letters, animal letters, book report letters, bottle and balloon messages, and sending electronic mail are discussed. (PP)

Details responses students got from an assignment in which they were required to ask questions of people in eight different occupations about the kind of writing they do in their jobs, the most important qualities of writing, and the biggest problems they see in the writing of others. (EL)

Deaf students in grades 6-8 issued a newspaper as a regular part of the English curriculum. The project involved making a trip to a newspaper publisher, setting aside a "newsroom" classroom area, selecting staff, brainstorming story ideas, learning to use the Newsroom computer program, writing, editing, and planning the layout. (JDD)

The Internet is a powerful tool for language teaching. Web-based student projects can motivate students to study English. A Web project is an assignment in which students make a Web page and post it online for other people to read or see. This type of project is good for promoting cultural awareness and improving students' writing and presentation…

Ngee Ann Polytechnic, a leading postsecondary technical institution in Singapore, offers English for academic and occupational purposes to prepare students for writing their final year projects. This article discusses the approaches used in Mechanical Engineering and Biotechnology projects. A sample exercise is appended. (Contains two references.)…

As illustrated in one college world literature course, videotape recording projects that require students to interpret and perform literary works can encourage them to incorporate their new learning with their own experiences. In the process, history becomes more real and literary works become more understandable and relevant. (MSE)

There are few curricular programs or activities in the schools which help students develop skills that enable them to participate actively in voluntary civic or political activities. Literacy, and especially civic writing, is critical for participation in the civic process. But teaching civic writing, which is distinguished by its purposes,…

Designed for elementary school teachers, this publication treats various aspects of publishing young student-authors' writing. Activities are as follows: (1) proofreading (children should proofread first by themselves); (2) pagination (let children decide how to break up the text); (3) placement of text (on alternate pages, for example, or perhaps…

Intended to help teachers of grades K-6 develop students' writing skills, this book contains easy-to-follow instructions for creating many fun types of correspondence, such as pop-up and scratch-and-sniff cards. The book is filled with lists of useful resources, including ways to find pen pals, an annotated bibliography of children's books that…

Describes a cooperative writing project involving a college-level psychology class and a ninth-grade English class. Discusses different concepts of psychology held by the two student groups. Concludes with suggestions for improving writing skills and helping students become more authoritative writers. (CFR)

Designed to encourage self-expression in motivated students--all those who enjoy the adventure and challenge of learning--as well as in gifted and talented children in the upper elementary and junior high school grades, the 16 student writing projects described in this book lend themselves to a variety of applications, such as basic skill…