In the English classroom, narrative writing is often separated from the work of reading literature or used merely to coax reluctant students into discussing textually relevant topics. This article discusses a close writing activity, Image Explosion, that engages students in narrative writing that brings attention to the smallest details of…

This study explored racialized newcomer student participants' experiences in a rural high school in Western Canada, and utilized critically engaged language and literacy workshops (CELLWs) as a means to authentically represent participants' interrelationships with and relatability to their school and community spaces. CELLWs are an important…

Reflection is a necessary component of learning. Through reflective assignments and tasks, students are given opportunities to evaluate their learning and analyze strategies they use while acquiring and applying course material. Reflections also help students assess and think deeply about the information presented in class and thus better retain…

The purpose of this article is to provide strategies that address three areas (creating a classroom library, incorporating environmental print, establishing writing activities) for beginning teachers for creating literacy-rich environments to support the academic and functional needs of young students with significant developmental disabilities…

Discusses methods to lend more realism to the technical writing classroom: (1) role playing, in which a report is written for someone other than the teacher; (2) presenting proposals orally at a party; (3) presenting a problem for students to solve through research; and (4) creating an advertising poster on a topic students know little about to…

Suggests ways of designing poetry writing assignments so that students are motivated to practice a particular writing skill. (RL)

Offers guidelines on helping young children develop into independent writers. Explains what to expect at different stages, such as semiphonetic and phonetic stages, drawing as a prewriting activity, and writing and revising once drawing no longer dictates writing. Offers suggestions for providing an environment that supports the writing process.…

Presents a catalog of active-learning techniques aimed at fostering student learning in the context of a lecture course. Activities range from listening practices to short writing exercises to complex group exercises. Barriers to implementing active learning, and some solutions, are explored and personal experience with the techniques are…

Discusses an instructional model viewing the role of teachers as gatekeepers or border crossers, with gatekeepers maintaining tight control over learning and border crossers providing students greater freedom to define their own learning experience. Examines the validity of the model in the context of using writing assignments in large lecture…

Discusses beginning writing activities that teachers can use with young children. Notes that preschoolers use writing systems that include drawings, scribblings, letterlike forms, words, and invented spelling. Suggests that teachers can use functional writing projects, such as greeting cards, lists, journals, address books, and pen pals, to…

To explore the structure of academic work in classrooms, a case analysis was conducted of the academic tasks accomplished in three English classes taught by the same teacher. The authors conclude that the study contributes to the development of a language with which to describe curriculum dimensions of the teaching process. (MJL)

Reports on dialogue journals as effective writing tasks which bridge the gap between spoken conversation and the traditional tasks of essay and report writing. Suggests that the use of dialogue journals improve classroom management and discipline, while creating an individual tutorial relationship of both an academic and personal nature. (MM)

Addresses both pedagogical and logistical concerns and objections to writing-across-the-curriculum programs in introductory content-area courses. Explains how instructors may use writing to help students master course content and how instructors can create a classroom structure to ease the pressure on themselves to respond to student drafts. (TB)

When college courses and classrooms are consciously designed to foster self-evaluation, critical shifts occur in student autonomy and responsibility. Three elements that transform the school experience into meaningful learning include encouraging student "ownership" of their work; promoting reflection on that work; and creating a sense…

This article discusses a theoretical aspect of composition studies concerning the development of "an irenic multicultural composition classroom." The author notes that such a classroom environment, where all parties learn how to get along and perhaps learn to "agree to disagree," has been a long-time goal of composition studies theorists. However,…