How an author communicates with a reader is a central consideration in the critical examination of any text. When considering the communication of ideas from young people whose voices are seldom heard, the journey from author to audience has particular significance. The construction of children and young people as 'authors' is important,…

Dialogue writing samples from 54 sixth grade students in three classrooms were compared with standard narratives written by the same subjects. Results show that children wrote longer stories and enjoyed the sessions more when writing dialogue. Children's reading levels and academic motivation had no affect on this result. (TJH)

This guidebook is designed to help teachers think about the important role of assessment in guiding students' narrative writing, with an emphasis on the close connections among curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The assessments that are given as examples stem from a long-term collaboration between the Center for Research on Evaluation,…