Explains how to "carve" a text, rearranging or omitting words without altering the basic message. Notes that this exercise helps students become aware of how language can be manipulated for meaning. (MM)

One of a series prepared by the Hawaii Newspaper Agency, this teaching guide offers ideas on using the daily newspaper to teach vocabulary and writing to students on any level. Suggestions include using a "word of the week" to teach word meanings, uses, and roots as well as how words can be used in a sentence; listing vocabulary words on bulletin…

Suggests implementing a pen pal program using students in the same school or from a school in the same district as a way to encourage written communication among elementary school students. (HTH)

Discusses the efforts of a fifth-grade teacher and a visiting poet to rekindle students' sense of poetic passion and pleasure. Describes how the authors introduced students to poems for two voices (using P. Fleischman's "Joyful Noise"). The poetry unit culminated in a project in which students read and performed Fleischman's poems, then wrote and…

Describes a class project involving collaborative partnerships in which fifth graders wrote books for first graders. (HTH)

Investigates the effectiveness of an integrated communication arts approach (emphasizing writing) on sixth graders' comprehension of a world history topic. Finds that students who completed writing tasks after brainstorming generated significantly higher quality ideas and improved their writing ability more than students who completed short-answer…

This language arts lesson designed for grade five involves drama as a focal point in preparing children to write a short story similar to the one they first create through improvisation. Included are the objectives of the lesson, materials, the children's previous experience, the step-by-step procedure with accompanying teacher points, the writing…

By incorporating writing into everyday math activities, elementary students become better communicators and learn to express themselves, mathematically and otherwise, with more confidence and clarity. An elementary teacher presents several successful writing activities from her math classroom, including a math word web, a guided-response sheet,…

Developmental writing activities (186), based on the theory that the process of writing can be arranged in a hierarchical chain of learning experiences, are divided among six chapters: "The Ebb and Flow of Writing,""Composition Writing as an Artistic Expression,""Spelling Problems and the Flow of Expression,""Traditional and Experimental Verse…

This handbook contains over 265 reproducible writing process activities that help make writing fun for students in grades 4-8. The handbook provides stimulating activities to give students the directed practice they need to learn to write clearly and competently. Designed for minimal teacher input, activities are complete with directions geared to…

One of a series of activity guides, this publication offers a variety of learning activities and resource materials to help teachers and students celebrate special days and events in autumn. The activities and resources are especially designed to develop communications skills of students in grades 4-8; however, they are easily transferable to…

Posing as an avuncular letter writer, the author discusses the problems faced by first-time teachers teaching fourth-grade composition. Proposes exercises to motivate children to write, communication inspiring ways to arrange classroom environment, guided free-writing assignments, and heuristics prompts for writing a fairy tale. (JG)

These classroom exercises have been designed to maximize teacher time, while creating an awareness of our food and fiber system among New York fourth graders. The materials are color-coded, falling into four categories: language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Each exercise includes background information, concepts, and objectives…

Describes an art exercise that helps students understand the abstract concept of line. Working in groups, students list things that can be found under the earth and then individually create layered earth drawings. A writing exercise follows that encourages analytical thinking and gives students a chance to explain what they discovered. (GG)

Deconstruction for reconstruction is a classroom teaching technique designed to help students improve writing skills. The objective is to write natural expanded sentences that fit in a cohesive paragraph. The technique evolved from observation of many intermediate and upper-intermediate students of English as a Second Language for whom writing…