Many teachers would like to counter what Deborah Tannen calls "The Argument Culture." They recognize that teaching students traditional principles of argument may perpetuate the kind of adversarial thinking that erupts all too often: in aggressive newspaper headlines, on confrontational television shows, in court rooms, and in school…

Techniques are discussed for encouraging students to write thoughtful papers about field trips. Greater student involvement can be achieved by cultivating a sense of ownership of the writing. Topics for before, during, and after the trip are suggested in such functional writing areas as instrumental, regulatory, interactional, personal, heuristic,…

Discusses the lack of emphasis on writing skills in elementary and intermediate language classes, the purpose and process of writing, and general recommendations for the incorporation of writing into the language curriculum. Contains specific examples of writing tasks, including the composition of telegrams, recipes, postcards, directions, and…

This handbook, intended for English language arts teachers, principals, curriculum and testing specialists, superintendents, and all educators interested in preparing students for the grade 8 California Assessment Program (CAP) writing assessment, provides the practitioner with information about the content of the test, the rationale underlying…