Even students who are successful readers and writers in the early grades can struggle with demanding texts and writing assignments in secondary schools. But with the leadership plan and action steps in this book, you can continue to build on students' literacy skills and intervene with students who falter. Explore ways to connect literacy…

Describes a cross-disciplinary research paper assignment in which students engage in original research and interview an expert before researching in the library. (SR)

Discusses a composition assignment that integrates library instruction with a research assignment, thus encouraging students to take an interdisciplinary approach to their writing and thinking. (SR)

Describes a nine-week South Dakota history unit for junior high school students that incorporated writing for learning. Describes the eight writing assignments that were the key activities of this unit. Concludes that writing helps students comprehend, apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information. (SR)

Describes an assignment in which ninth graders created a storybook or a textbook for children in grades 4-6 that would link 4 core subjects: math, English, science, and anthropology. (SR)

A course taught at St. Augustine's College uses "A Voice from the South" (1893) by Anna J. Cooper (a collection of essays representing women as being bold, in-charge decision makers) as an example of how "Feminism across the Disciplines" is expressed. These essays, as well as works of a number of other writers, can be used in…

Provides examples of arts infused literary studies, with each example using art experiences (expressive writing, creative movement, visual arts, exploratory music, and informal drama) to relate to the literature text. Notes that the learning outcome is to involve readers in exploring the meaning of the story as it relates to their own life…

Describes a project in which students combined personal narratives, drawings, and Japanese woodblock prints. Includes three examples of students' stories and prints. (SR)

Describes how the geology department of Bucknell University integrated its Senior Program with Bucknell's writing program. The program stresses the importance of the following: (1) teaching appropriate writing skills and style; (2) providing clearly articulated writing assignments; (3) writing multiple drafts; (4) using the peer-review method; and…

Discusses a variety of writing assignments emphasizing critical-thinking skills for a geology curriculum. The assignments include question and answer assignments, reaction papers, short papers, and position papers. The authors contend that several short writing assignments are better than a single term paper because students improve their writing…

Offers an assignment designed to arouse students' interest in U.S. government. Expounds that students choose a political novel and then must address three topics in their papers: (1) plot and political themes; (2) relevant parts of lecture and textbook; and (3) accurate/inaccurate depiction of politics in their novel. (CMK)

This book is designed to provide teachers with numerous ideas about how to infuse mathematics and writing into their classroom in creative and challenging ways and to encourage students to visualize, speak, and write about math. The activities described here can help students communicate mathematically and realize that there is more to math than…

Describes an art lesson that focuses on developing second-grade students' basic computer drawing skills. Explains that the students created a picture using shapes and copied their artworks onto the computer using a stylus. States that the students also wrote a story to accompany their computer pictures. (CMK)

Describes a term paper assignment where students are allowed to pick a topic that interests them based upon the course focus and course format. Authors have found that, if students are interested in a topic and it is relevant to them, some of the onerousness that students associate with writing can be significantly reduced. (PR)

The contact zones in teaching writing are connected in multiple ways. A principal concern is how students learn to write for the disciplines, but the focus is the relationship between composition specialists and their colleagues throughout the disciplines. In the early days of writing across the curriculum (WAC), writing was seen primarily as a…