From penmanship, to product, to process...this article recounts 100 years of instructional practice in the US elementary writing classroom through the voices of past teaching manuals and curriculum guides. This particular tale begins at the turn of the 20th century--a time when the elementary school was firmly established in the country, and…

Demonstrates a way to encourage students to take risks in their writing. (SR)

Third grade students were asked to create symbolic representations of themselves as readers and writers using the engagement of sketch to stretch.

Contains representative articles, ads, and editorials from issues of "The Elementary English Review," and "Elementary English," both precursors to "Language Arts," from 1944-1953. Selections reflect educational concerns still relevant today, such as the impact of audiovisual equipment and letting children write to…

Examines materials in the ERIC system related to trends in grammar instruction. Discusses the efficacy of formal grammar instruction in the schools and presents activities for successfully integrating grammar instruction into the writing curriculum. (HTH)

Reports a case study which reveals that children use the knowledge they hold about what writing is for, how writing is created, and the conventions of writing in their first language to help them write successfully in the second language. (MM)

Describes an exploration the author and his seventh-grade students undertook as they wrote essays about objects of personal significance. Describes how they examined a piece of literature (an essay) as a model for their own writing, how they spent some time talking and listening to one another about their personal objects, and how they then wrote…

Describes an alternative elementary school where teachers work together to offer dance as a complement to writing and the study of literature in a whole language approach. Encourages teachers to add new ideas to their curriculum, to use individual talents, and to collaborate with other teachers. (MS)