Presents three teachers' suggestions for teaching grammar. Discusses how the first teacher suggests studying active and passive voice, the second teacher has students construct slang dictionaries, and the third teacher uses sentence combining that engages students and encourages carryover to their writing. (SG)

Discusses the researched article as an alternative to the research paper and provides guidelines for students to follow in writing a query letter which sells the idea for the article. (RB)

Describes an exercise for basic writers which encompasses reading, listening, and writing. Finds that Edgar Allan Poe's "Tell-Tale Heart" has an effective vocabulary, a first-person conversational tone for the "mad" voice, and a second-person direct address that makes it easy to follow. Notes that inexperienced readers can…

Suggests clustering can help students of any ability level draw upon latent images and ideas, generate more original sentences, and experiment with metaphor and simile. (MS)

Describes an English literature assignment which engages seniors in library research on an author, an oral presentation, and creating and grading a writing assignment. (MM)

Contains one-paragraph descriptions from six college English instructors describing successful lessons and techniques used in the classroom. Covers collaborative teaching with letter writing; notetaking and paraphrasing; a first day ice-breaking activity; a writing development check; linking assignments in basic writing; and a descriptive writing…

Shares results of a predrafting activity for tenth grade composition students centered on the concept of the common good. Asks students to generate questions for an interview with a state representative and his opponent in the November 1988 election in preparation for writing essays. (MG)

Describes a writing exercise with the "Oxford English Dictionary" that teaches students about research and attention to detail. Describes how the exercise, which involves the student in a set of serial tasks, makes students comfortable with the OED, teaches them how to extract full details of any word, and teaches students to take…

Describes a technical writing course that meets the needs of students in English and the sciences. (RB)

This teaching guide is built around a method (called the "Caught'ya" method) of teaching grammar and mechanics with humor. The guide contains story ideas and three sets of 100 Caught'ya sentences, as well as a chapter which discusses specific ways to use the Caught'ya at home. Following an introduction, the guide is divided into the…

Describes an in-class exercise in which students listen to a piece of music (without lyrics), and then write about their responses. Notes that students learn that responding to literature is as natural as responding to music, and that they all have valid and unique reactions and connections to literature. (SR)

This paper offers a sample selection of exercises from the text "Rapid Transit to Sentence Writing," which is based on the idea that learning to write a sentence is a process which involves understanding the relationship of the parts of the sentence to the whole sentence. The book received the 1989 Innovative Teaching Honors Award from…

Describes a "hands-on" thinking and writing activity, in which the class takes a walk and writes responses to nature as a whole and to one small aspect of nature. Includes class discussion assignments. (HTH)

Describes a creative writing and reading class assignment in which each student was required to make a 20-minute presentation as a catalyst for student writing (such as a poem, song, object, or picture). (EL)