The assignment of frequent, short, specific writing tasks related to reading assignments encourages active reading of the text, does not overwhelm poorer readers, and teaches important lessons about proof, quotation, and economy in writing. (MSE)

Describes, in a high school student's own words, how whole language and authentic writing helped the student move from wanting to drop out to wanting to become a writer. (SR)

Describes the procedure, rationale, and results of a writing project, called Buddy Writing, in which all kindergarten through eighth grade students participated. (MG)

Introduces Sustained Spontaneous Writing (SSW), a strategy which encourages young writers by providing a classroom environment that fosters writing habits and by having teachers model writing behaviors expected from students. Presents background information and practical suggestions for implementing SSW and ensuring its success in the daily…

Uses personal experience with writing a newsletter to show how a newsletter assignment involves students in a wide variety of writing experiences, makes them aware of their audience, and shows them the need for good organizing and editing skills. (MM)

Describes a teacher's method of motivating her sixth- and seventh-grade students to become interested in interview pieces with authors. Provides a worksheet that encourages student engagement with the interview questions. (TB)

Existing and potential applications of the computer to writing instruction are outlined, including choosing and developing a subject, text analysis, simulation, and motivation. Some concerns about computer use in writing instruction are also discussed. (MSE)

Ways to make historical figures come to life through classroom simulations are described. They include: (1) teacher impersonations of time-machine visitors; (2) public-address-system voices from the past; (3) writing about historical personages from different perspectives; (4) mock trials; and (5) role playing by students. (PP)

Describes satellite-delivered education for isolated learners, in which students interact with both teacher and fellow students using voice, video, and data. Reports that students were highly motivated to write a teleplay and poetry collaboratively and that the burden of distance education was eased for parent, teacher, and learner. (RS)

Communicating about mathematics not only enriches the learning of mathematics but also makes mathematics relevant and meaningful to students. This article describes an instructional sequence for fostering students' journal writing on mathematics. The sequence involves motivation of students, verbal interaction, class and individual writing,…

A middle school classroom teacher and a college instructor describe an activity in which 14 students in a sixth-grade special education class corresponded with college students enrolled in a language arts methods course. The middle school students were excited about writing and motivated to do their best, and their writing grew in complexity,…

Teaching college writing students to edit the autobiographical writing of others has many advantages. Autobiographical materials, such as diaries, letters, or journals, are physically and psychologically accessible for students, and as editors they would be obliged to keep in mind appropriateness of language, tone, and simplicity or complexity of…

Produced as part of a collaborative research project in which classroom teachers teamed with university-based research assistants to explore questions raised by the teachers in the course of their work with students, this monograph deals with the issue of "occasion." Following a review of theory and research about aspects of occasion…

Discusses the popularity of adventure games in computer assisted language learning and attributes the success of this format to the Input Hypothesis and the Affective Filter Hypothesis. Criteria for the instructional evaluation of these games are presented. (Author/SED)

Community college students tend to perceive a gap between their current writing ability and the level of writing skill they expect to need as employees in the future. Unfortunately, college composition classes generally do a poor job of capitalizing on the true value of writing to career development, and fail to have students practice the kind of…