Lists several classroom writing activities, including writing in sand, using letters cut from magazines and newspapers, and baking letter cookies. (HTH)

Gives reasons for using writing projects rather than writing assignments. Offers the group project of writing pamphlets as an example of students applying knowledge from outside the classroom in developing writing and communication skills. (RL)

Describes an exercise for basic writers which encompasses reading, listening, and writing. Finds that Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" has an effective vocabulary, a first-person conversational tone for the "mad" voice, and a second-person direct address that makes it easy to follow. Notes that inexperienced readers can…

Contains one-paragraph descriptions from six college English instructors describing successful lessons and techniques used in the classroom. Covers collaborative teaching with letter writing; notetaking and paraphrasing; a first day ice-breaking activity; a writing development check; linking assignments in basic writing; and a descriptive writing…

Explains how to get middle school through college students to write detailed paragraphs with the QUEEN FRANCIS method--an acronym that stands for "Qu"otes, "E"xamples, "E"xperts, "N"ames, "F"acts, "R"easons, "A"necdotes, "N"umbers, "C"oncrete words,…

Uses character analysis borrowed from drama classes to work on literary selections. Gives writing assignments to students based on characters from a story. Conducts interviews with the "characters" in class. (PA)

A whole-class exercise used in college composition classes to demonstrate the writing process is described. The class works together to produce a collaborative paper, in rough draft, in one hour. Steps used to produce it include specification of topic, discussion of purpose and audience, prewriting for ideas, development of thesis and outline,…

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…

Describes a "hands-on" thinking and writing activity, in which the class takes a walk and writes responses to nature as a whole and to one small aspect of nature. Includes class discussion assignments. (HTH)

A nine-lesson plan illustrates a senior-level approach to "The Little Prince" that includes follow-up, consolidation, and review activities. Group and individual, oral and written exercises and suggestions for evaluation are provided. (MSE)

Technical communication teachers need to recognize the increasing diversity of their classroom populations and become more flexible in planning curricula without "watering down" students' expectations to leave the courses more skilled than they were upon entering. Teachers should discuss with students some of their writing barriers and the…

This anthology contains 21 articles on teaching methods and assignments in technical writing. The anthology is divided into three major sections. The first section, "Courses," presents plans for alternative approaches to the teaching of technical writing. The second section, "Components," offers a variety of activities for major segments within a…

Proposes a classroom technique that has students examine texts from different points of view by changing the narrator. The method is an amusing, motivating, and challenging exercise in French composition, and is illustrated in an excerpt from a Camus novel. (MSE)

A variety of exercises based on manipulation of a single text are described. The activities involve replacing words or phrases in the text with synonyms or opposites, transposing gender, changing tenses, filling in blanks, and answering multiple-choice questions about linguistic forms. Three brief sample texts are offered. (MSE)

Reflecting the thought and work of many classroom English teachers, the activities presented in this booklet are a sample of ideas exchanged at the 1980 convention of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) held in Cincinnati, Ohio. The suggested activities are grouped into four categories: (1) a miscellany of writing assignments that…