Methods of eliciting writing from children are explored in this monograph, which includes samples of nine- and ten-year-old students' writing. The monograph offers four recommendations for improving writing skills: make writing a daily activity; take children's writing seriously; maintain flexible standards of form and language; and identify group…

The information and activities in this guide are offered to teachers who want to familiarize their fifth grade students with test taking techniques. The introductory sections of the guide discuss the types of tests administered to fifth grade students, test wisdom in general, characteristics of fifth grade students, the teacher's role in testing…

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…

Based on the idea that a healthier, saner and more creative classroom is possible, this book presents an extended case study of the behavior of two fourth grade girls, focusing on their writing. The book argues that the data gathered from observing students can lead to changes in the classroom and improved teaching practices by providing teachers…

This lesson will introduce intermediate students to the Japanese poetic form of "haiku," which is most effectively taught after students have an understanding of syllables. The lesson plan's introductory activity is designed to introduce students to the geography of Japan, as well as Japanese culture through Asian art and music--after…

To prevent children with reading difficulties from thinking of themselves as failures, academic experiences must include projects that will motivate them to be responsible learners, enhance their self-concept, and reinforce all the language arts skills. One class of sixth grade students with reading disabilities made minibooks from greeting cards…

A study examined the interaction strategies of one teacher for promoting student writing in the dialogue journals of 12 limited-English-proficient sixth grade students and the effect of these strategies on the length and complexity of the students' writing. The teacher strategies identified include requests for a reply and personal contributions…

A middle school teacher of writing to learners of English as a Second Language describes two techniques used to improve student participation and guide the writing process. The first is to select a writing topic to which all students can relate. In this case, the teacher asked students, in a class discussion, to give their own definitions of…

A middle school teacher describes the process by which she discovered a collaborative approach to teaching writing to a class including English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students. To create a meaningful writing experience, she had students prepare a personal narrative, starting by having the class generate endings to the sentence beginning "I'll…