Background: Phonological processing skills have been found to contribute to spelling development across different orthographies; however, less is known about the role of orthographic knowledge. This longitudinal study explores the contribution of phonological and orthographic knowledge to spelling development in a semi-transparent orthography…

This article presents findings from an empirical study in which we investigated Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) students' linguistic resources in the L2 (English) to convey different Cognitive Discourse Functions (Dalton-Puffer 2013; 2016)--"Describe, Compare (Categorize), Report, Evaluate" and "Explore"--in two…

This study, using a mixed methods design, examined the use of a photograph-based model to improve students' language and writing skills. Classes were assigned to receive the photograph-based intervention (experimental) or to receive the regular language-based curriculum (control). Both second and fifth grade students in the experimental group…

Supporting upper elementary students' higher level (i.e., analytic) thinking about texts in writing is a challenge for many teachers, in large part because what it means to analyze text is not well defined and because this skill is a relatively new expectation in elementary grades. In this article, the authors clarify the goal of three common…

Learning to read and write efficiently is of the utmost importance in elementary school. However, writing is frequently difficult and can be demotivating for beginning writers. Fortunately these barriers can be partially alleviated with parental help. Many studies showed that parental involvement influences children's competence and motivation in…

Drawing on assets-oriented, sociocultural theories of imagination and learning, the authors argue that the improvisational qualities and expanded resources of dramatic approaches to teaching make a positive difference in the quality of and persistence in students' story writing. The authors describe findings from a controlled quasi-experimental…

The study examines the use of weblogs in teacher education internships and its impact on student stress levels, self-efficacy, and reflective abilities. One hundred and seventy-six student teachers were randomly assigned to five groups. Four groups used weblogs (a) with emotion-focused or with problem-focused writing assignments in combination (b)…

In the course of normal classroom lessons, 103 students (median 11.10 years) were asked to spend 15 min writing "anything you can think of" about the number 50 on a blank page. The products were independently scored by 2 specialist art teachers and 2 specialist mathematics teachers on criteria relevant to their specialisations.…

This quantitative study explored if significant differences exist between how fifth-grade students produce a written response to a narrative prompt using online versus offline writing platforms. The cultural and social trend of instructional and assessment writing paradigms in education is shifting to online writing platforms (National Assessment…

Most studies on narrative competence have focused on monolingual subjects, and there are very few studies which address this issue in bilingual subjects dealing with two language systems. In the present case study we analyzed and compared the textual and narrative written skills of three deaf and three hearing adolescents attending eighth grade at…

The rapid development of the digital classroom has made it possible to combine extensive reading with online writing, yet research and development in this area are lacking. This study explores the impact of online writing after extensive reading in a classroom setting in China where there was one computer for each student (a 1:1 digital…

Objective: This paper reports on the use of child participatory approaches to evaluate the implementation and impact of the "Zippy's Friends" emotional wellbeing programme on children in disadvantaged primary schools in Ireland. Design: As part of the overall evaluation study, which comprised a clustered randomised controlled trial,…

This study examined whether instruction in genre knowledge enriches students' feedback on each other's writing, resulting in better writing quality. In total 140 sixth-grade students (age 11-13) participated in the study. Two approaches to peer response with additional instruction were compared. In one condition, students were taught specific…

This quasi-experimental study examined effects of a 12-week, teacher-delivered, morphologically focused intervention on writing outcomes for fifth-grade U.S. students. In order to help students gain control over the morphologically complex words that typify academic writing, the intervention called students' attention to the morphological…

Handwriting difficulties or dysgraphia have a profound impact on children's psychosocial development, and yet, 10-30% of school-aged children are reported to experience difficulties mastering this skill. Several studies have examined the nature and biomechanical underpinnings of handwriting difficulties in children with and without dysgraphia.…