Provides analysis of an imaging exercise. Describes how one experience became something unexpected as imaging met imagination. Lists five steps for teachers to use in conducting the exercise. (PA)

Describes several activities for generating writing ideas and writing assignments to capitalize on those activities. Assignments include recording the experience, describing a reaction to the experience, or forming a generalization based on the experience or a principle formalized as the result of the activity. (HTH)

Describes a writing activity in which students compose their own versions of the yellow, diamond-shaped signs which frequent the rear windows of automobiles. Notes that such "environmental writing" became a personal challenge for the students to represent in a few words the essential concepts and ideas about reading and responding. (RS)

Describes several patterned language books useful in helping students overcome writing apprehension by supplying them with the form, so that all they have to do is provide the creative ideas. (RS)

The "Silent Interview" provides an effective ice-breaking exercise for the first day of composition class and also triggers learning strategies toward writing effectively. At the first class meeting, students are asked to work in pairs, exchanging questions and responses in writing until six or eight questions have been asked and…

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 several activities that can be used to involve students in class and prevent them from becoming merely passive observers of the teacher. (FL)

Describes several activities using postcards as writing prompts at all classroom levels. (MM)

Describes an exercise in which students demonstrate what they have learned by working in groups to find incorrect grammar in newspaper writing. (SR)

Offers five tips from writing teachers on writing activities that work well in their classrooms. (SR)

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…

An approach to teaching the writing of poetry is presented in this brief article. AUTHOR'S COMMENT (excerpt): A poet's purpose is to amuse, to instruct, to embellish truth, or to vitalize dull reality. Poets compress, using the minimum number of words to gain the maximum effect, yoking seemingly disparate ideas into metaphors, creating poetic…

In-class writing assignments using such techniques as non-thought warmups, lead-sentences, completion, rewording, and wordbanks (write a paragraph using a given list of words), and debriefing can be used on a regular basis in the content areas without decreasing time spent on content and without increasing the time spent grading papers. The…