This study examined the reflective journal entries of 42 trainee teachers who underwent teaching practicum in schools in Malaysia. The study investigated the types of reflections, strategies or stance used, and perceptions of the trainees toward reflective journal writing. The findings of the study indicated that the trainee teachers were engaged…

Details the components of a two-part, two-week assignment in the writing of description which gives the students a chance to work on both observation and order. (JM)

Asking students to describe an unrecognizable portion of an artifact sharpened their powers of observation.

Seven methods for helping students find theme topics are presented in this document. The methods include the following: setting up a library browsing table of records, books, and criticism related to the work of literature that is being studied; permitting students to choose topics based on observation of the surrounding community or reactions to…

There is a logical sequence in the steps of a freshman English course, the goal of which is the comprehension of the writing process and a readiness to move forward with that process. Students must first learn prewriting--an outpouring on paper of every thought connected with a given topic. This is followed by selecting ideas, formulating a…

Describes how the four traditional kinds of writing (description, narration, exposition, and argumentation) are used in advertising and suggests ways that advertising and the four modes may be used to teach composition. (DD)

Presents a writing exercise which stimulates college freshmen's imaginations and suits adolescents' interest in a favorite subject for composition--themselves. (JM)

Describes reviewing the basics of descriptive writing by having students compare the images described in E. B. White's "Once More to the Lake," with those in the film "On Golden Pond." Students then write a descriptive paragraph, from an internal or external perspective, about a magazine advertisement chosen for its sensory appeal. (HTH)

The beginning creative writer usually needs to learn the distinction between creative writing and purely informational or reportorial exposition. This can often be accomplished through writing assignments incorporating the concepts of New Journalism--the method of rendering realistically, from the point of view of an outsider who has temporarily…

Getting students involved in the process of heightening, which is really the transforming of experience and self-expression into fiction, is a basic factor in teaching the writing of fiction. This process of heightening involves two devices for communicating "felt life": concretization and dramatization. In teaching these devices, prewrigting…

Describes the use of Tarot cards to help students achieve clarity in descriptive writing and learn how to interpret symbols. (TJ)

Presents a method that enables students to become aware of nonverbal communication and to incorporate it into their descriptive writing. (TJ)

Describes the company profile case study approach to technical writing. Explains that groups of four students (1) select an industrywide classification, then select four firms from the chosen classification; (2) select audiences for their reports; (3) research individual companies and prepare group presentations; and (4) deliver group…

Confronts the challenges of getting young actors to embrace the use of language. Presents a series of exercises designed to expose students to the potential power of the spoken word by using three different kinds of texts: advertising copy, children's storybooks, and the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Discusses how the author engages his…

Teaching writing on the basis of purposes has certain advantages over teaching on the basis of techniques. The primary advantage is the greater resemblance to "real writing." Most student writing is apprentice work, as students themselves know, but it is far easier to point to nonacademic analogues of the categories of purpose (definition,…