Understanding how to address current trends and issues in literacy education is more important than ever, as local, state, national and international agendas are increasingly recognizing literacy as a foundation for success in all disciplines in education. To bridge that gap in understanding, this book showcases hot topics in literacy, providing…

Every teacher knows the challenge of trying to engage reluctant readers and struggling writers--students whose typical response to a writing prompt is a few sentence fragments scribbled on a sheet of paper followed by an elaborate shrug of the shoulders. The best way to engage less confident readers and writers is to give them something powerful…

The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) was created to support teachers in implementing college and career readiness standards in order to teach literacy skills throughout the content areas. Teachers work collaboratively with coaches to further develop their expertise and design standards-driven, literacy-rich writing assignments within their…

The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) was created to support teachers in implementing college and career readiness standards in order to teach literacy skills throughout the content areas.Teachers work collaboratively with coaches to further develop their expertise and design standards-driven, literacy-rich writing assignments within their…

Presents three activities that use literature as a springboard for the study of history/social science and as a prompt for original writing. (SR)

Presents three detailed writing activities involving: writing "circle poems" in the Indian spirit; writing a tall tale; and writing with a historical slant. Notes that these imaginative writing assignments are adaptable to any educational level and fit in almost anyplace in the history or social studies curriculum. (RS)

Noting that comic books are known and read by a wide variety of students, this paper presents brief descriptions of 30 ways that teachers can use comic books in a wide variety of subjects and grade levels. The ideas for using comic books in the paper are designed to help teachers become aware of what their students are reading and to use what…

Author describes use of writing assignments to help ninth grade students learn earth science and increase their interest in it. Presents advice for both formal writing assignments (laboratory reports and library-research papers) and informal assignments (learning logs or journals and role writing). Frequent review and encouragement with lots of…

Discusses the use of writing to enhance learning in mathematics from a conceptual development perspective. Shuell's phases of learning are described as a general model for conceptual development and subsequently matched with Britton's categories for transactional-informative writing. Sample mathematics assignments for each writing category are…

Analyzed survey responses of 226 mathematics teachers from 57 Australian high schools concerning the use of writing in mathematics classrooms. Findings suggested that writing is rarely used as a strategy for teaching mathematics and when it is used, its effectiveness is limited. Includes the Writing in Mathematics questionnaire. (44 references)…

Discusses the use of science process skills to help students think positively about writing assignments. Examines the four language arts skills of narration, description, explanation, and persuasion, as used in writing about hands-on science activities. (MDH)

Describes using the writing process as an instructional strategy in science classes to encourage critical thinking. (PR)