This paper examines children's preferences and understanding of stories and story elements by analyzing an extensive collection of art, writing, and teacher observations of one child, Virginia. The paper traces the progession of Virginia's understanding of character, setting, action/plot, and preference for fairy tale structures as evidenced in…

Showing how fiction is a natural genre for children, this book helps teachers experiment with 10-minute fictional occasions, write with the children, and meld work in writing fiction with the reading program. The book includes a series of "actions"--experiments for personal growth and discovery in the classroom. Chapters in the book are:…

This paper presents 111 specific activities to help elementary students develop their creative writing skills. For each activity, suggestions are given for ways to begin and to develop the activity and for follow-up. Other sections of the paper discuss the type of classroom climate which is conducive to the development of creative writing skills,…

A naturalistic study investigated writing-related teacher planning and classroom activities in a combined second and third grade classroom and a sixth grade classroom. Data were collected from participant observation, teachers' reflections on classroom writing, and naturally occurring teacher and student writing samples. The study, which was based…

Concerned with the interaction between teacher writing values and classroom writing instruction, this report describes a naturalistic study of writing-related activities and teacher attitudes in a combined second and third grade classroom and a sixth grade classroom. It presents descriptions and analyses of seven occasions for writing that…

Designed for elementary school teachers, this publication treats various aspects of publishing young student-authors' writing. Activities are as follows: (1) proofreading (children should proofread first by themselves); (2) pagination (let children decide how to break up the text); (3) placement of text (on alternate pages, for example, or perhaps…

Intended to help elementary school language arts teachers provide students with opportunities for unprescribed writing according to a natural writing process, this booklet discusses research and practice in the writing process and creating a supportive classroom environment. The first part of the booklet examines theory and research on the stages…

This introductory manual offers an overview of the Hawaii English Program in Literature for elementary students--a program designed to help children enjoy and understand literature through active exploration of a variety of stories and poems from contemporary works as well as from the classics. Part I, "Preparing to Teach the Program",…

A successful expository writing program (1) should develop basic writing ability and fluency, (2) should convey to students that they are informants in a communicative context that includes writers and readers, and (3) should foster student control of the writing process including thinking and organizational strategies (such as planning,…

Having implications for teachers and students at all stages of primary school, this project report delineates an alternative and more effective approach to the teaching of beginning writing. The report points out that the project, while producing a body of classroom-tested material, focused on awareness about written language and how children…