Because children are experts in at least one subject--themselves--their best written work is usually autobiographical. This article suggests various specific autobiographical writing assignments teachers might want to use with their students. (JMK)

Describes a creative writing program in which second and fourth grade students wrote and read their poetry. (FL)

Outlines how teachers can motivate students and narrow the gap between school and home by using students' anecdotes about their families for reading or writing activities. Notes that this exercise also helps bridge the gap between spoken and written language. (MM)

An experienced teacher describes how to provide students with a real audience to motivate them to write. Suggestions include writing letters to make a difference in the community, preparing newsletters, compiling class literary magazines, and writing for local newspapers and businesses or for commercial children's magazines. (SM)

The importance of tidy, legible handwriting which effectively communicates ideas may be made evident to students through the use of purposeful, realistic writing situations. The writing of letters, diaries, poems, and invitations may provide a beneficial use of time and motivate students to improve their handwriting. The teacher can develop in…

This article presents 16 language arts and writing activities based on secret codes and mystery stories designed to intrigue and motivate students. (SJL)

Describes the procedure, rationale, and results of a writing project, called Buddy Writing, in which all kindergarten through eighth grade students participated. (MG)

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: Have you ever had trouble getting children to write stories? One technique that works well is group writing. (1) Divide the class into groups of five or six. (2) Give each child in a group a mimeographed copy of a story starter--just a sentence or an opening paragraph. (3) Have the children read the…

Ways to make historical figures come to life through classroom simulations are described. They include: (1) teacher impersonations of time-machine visitors; (2) public-address-system voices from the past; (3) writing about historical personages from different perspectives; (4) mock trials; and (5) role playing by students. (PP)

Describes satellite-delivered education for isolated learners, in which students interact with both teacher and fellow students using voice, video, and data. Reports that students were highly motivated to write a teleplay and poetry collaboratively and that the burden of distance education was eased for parent, teacher, and learner. (RS)

Based on the notion that children will rewrite willingly if given a definite purpose, three alternatives for revision connect the necessity of revision to the students' acceptance and desire to revise. The first alternative is to have the children revise their original story format, where the basic storyline remains the same, but the ideas,…

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…

Most school writing required of students is done in artificial situations that have little resemblance to the writing demands people actually face. For this reason, students often fail to see the value of writing and thus produce writing that does not reflect their true ability to communicate. In a bilingual Los Angeles school serving students…

The second edition of "Really Writing!" provides 40 real-life writing activities designed to capture the attention of young authors (grades 2 through 6) who are just learning the composing process. This book is also a resource for teaching advanced writers who are ready to experiment with a variety of writing and speaking genres. Each of the…