This article reports on a qualitative secondary data analysis of a study of upper elementary students' narrative writing progress in U.S. rural schools. It compares students working online in pairs with those working alone. We explain why the intervention had some positive effects for struggling writers but few effects for skilled writers. The…

The nature of this research study examines the relationship between text-talking and writing skills used by American Sign Language (ASL) and English speakers. When given ample opportunity to text-talk in academic settings, it is likely that students will improve their expressive communication and writing skills. The main research question asks:…

This exploratory case study was designed so that I could investigate the writing processes of sixth-grade students when composing traditional and digital compositions. With the increase in multimodal composing in classrooms, understanding how students compose and what traditional print text skills can be appropriated for digital composition is…

The purpose of this study was to explore young students' use of a blog to communicate and share information. A mixed methods study was conducted to explore blogging skill gains at each of grades one and five, between classrooms that engaged in a collaborative blog activity and classrooms that did not. In addition, a new assessment of online…

"Fable Writer" is an online reading, writing and research tool designed to facilitate synchronous, collaborative writing tool that enables learners to read and copy text and images from teacher-curated books and Web-based resources in the "Fable Reader" digital library. The "Fable Writer" project addressed two…

Many schools are launching school blogs as a way of developing their online profiles and involving pupils in digital writing. Blogs are used in many different ways. This research study developed as a result of a small survey carried out in three schools in Lambeth in South London in 2012. The survey was part of a scoping paper carried out for…

It was the perfect Halloween project. Each class would construct a three-dimensional "monster" out of common classroom materials (construction paper, cardboard boxes, tape, markers, glue, string, etc.), then write down instructions for building the monster and send them off to another class in the district, or in some other district, or even some…

The integration of socially responsible online citizenship into the pedagogical practices in the elementary classroom is challenging, but necessary. Online activities, such as writing letters to political leaders or communicating with an expert on a community issue, offer students the opportunity to improve their writing skills while advancing…

In the age of standards, the challenge is great to sustain children's voices as transformative forces in academic contexts. Interactive writing may offer an environment where children can reframe their engagement with curricular and personal knowledges, or even redefine the nature of academic content itself. This article focuses on the second year…