Describes Project Write which uses a hierarchy of critical thinking skills in the formation of concepts and theories. Describes how students use computers to brainstorm, categorize, verify, sequence story details, and create a main idea and conclusion for their expository writing. (RS)

Describes an award-winning program that integrates art throughout every stage of the writing process. Suggests that the program provides an alternative pathway into writing for children with diverse learning styles. Discusses research supporting the effectiveness of the program. (RS)

Describes a language arts program in a Brooklyn, New York, public school in which children are questioned about their writing and their interests and allowed the freedom to put any interest on paper. Discusses the problems children encounter with such writing freedom, as well as the program's effectiveness. (HTH)

Describes a writing workshop in which teachers work with clay and write about their products. (HTH)

The Story Train is a non-profit, elementary literacy program dedicated to the development of creative writing and critical thinking skills. Those objectives are achieved through a variety of specific techniques utilized to inspire students. The four components of the program are workshop, residency, television production, and an Internet site. The…

The "Writing Buddies" program is designed to allow students from one grade level to write, edit, publish, share, and celebrate their success with peers from another grade level. Students also benefit from the strengths of two teachers and parent volunteers. The role of the teacher is to provide the atmosphere conducive to writing, and to…

Summarizing the best current thinking about what classroom approaches produce sound writing experiences in the first eight grades, this book offers teachers a means of checking on their own practices and perceptions about how writing can best be learned. The first chapter of the book presents a historical review of authoritative opinion regarding…

Describes the objectives and background of a project designed to implement change in a school district's written communication program and analyzes the data obtained from writing evaluation forms. (HOD)

Describes the Critical Writing Program in the Catholic elementary schools in Arlington, Virginia, which teaches critical thinking through the process of writing. Illustrates the application of critical writing to history, science, and other subjects. Suggests ideas for "publishing" students' writing. (DMM)

A description and supporting materials of the elementary school writing program of the Bay Shore Public Schools (New York) are presented. The description and materials include: (1) the program philosophy; (2) a review of writing research including a 12-point summary of methods for teaching writing and a 10-point summary of the proper classroom…

In the Albion Writing Project at the State University of New York at Brockport, teachers, students, administrators, and college consultants collaborated on improving writing and writing instruction from kindergarten through grade 6. Throughout the two-year project, teachers attended inservice workshops on such general topics as the composing…

This report gives a history of the 1979-80 segment of a continuing project that is designed to provide a theoretically based description of children's transition from prereading to reading, along with tools that teachers may use to assess children's emerging literacy abilities. The first chapter provides an introduction to the project, while the…