Research suggests that experts and beginners use qualitatively different writing processes when given the same text to write. Throughout their writing, experts tend to create a network of executive, structural, and content problems that they continually refine and coordinate as they bring the text to fruition. Novices, in contrast, tend to focus…

Describes a fifth grade teacher's approach to producing plays with her class. The script for a Christmas play about Santa and the metric system is included. (JMB)

The process of writing a play serves as a remediation method for developing writing skills in the learning disabled student. The case of an 11-year-old student, who neither writes nor spells, illustrates this method. (SB)

Describes the class activities that lead to the making of a play and contains the script for a play entitled "The last of the Scotts," written and acted by students with the teacher serving as the producer. (RB)

How to make and use shadow puppets in class activities. (RL)

Describes a seventh grade language-arts unit on playwriting that provided an outlet for the drama, energy, and creativity inherent in all adolescents and proved to be a highly successful and enjoyable program of study. (MG)

Describes how a "radio" presentation of a basal play or favorite story fosters oral reading in reluctant readers. (MM)

Presents an interview with Ruth Beall Heinig, author of "Creative Drama for the Classroom Teacher," about her role as a teacher of creative drama and as a teacher-educator preparing teachers to use creative drama. Describes the development of her career in creative drama. Offers information on books about the subject written by other authors. (CR)

Describes the development and growth of a program at a new York City public elementary school called Growing a Story: A Theatrical Exploration of Imagination for Literacy Enrichment. This arts educational program fosters students' pride of ownership, self-esteem, and interdependence through improvised creation and performance of original…

A summer English class for gifted fifth- through eighth-grade students was designed to allow students to interact with literature by adapting short-stories into plays that the students then produced, performed, and filmed. During the prewriting phase, students discussed qualities most essential to a story or film, and compared a short story with…

The use of puppetry activities to project children into many different learning situations and environments is the topic of this guide which offers suggestions for making, costuming, and manipulating puppets; creating puppet plays with appropriate settings and dialogue; and producing these dramatizations in finished performances. For grades 2-6,…

Shared creative involvement in playwriting is the focus of this book which presents seven sample plays and suggests techniques for motivating and guiding children in classroom playwriting. Included are (1) a discussion of the general benefits derived by all kinds of students from participation in playwriting, plus specific guidelines for…