This article, based on a study in a sixth-grade middle school classroom in the rural southern United States, details a writing project that questions the nature of text and how text might positively affect students' perceptions as they become change agents for their communities.

When asked to discuss their middle school language arts classes, talented eighth graders identified concerns and made suggestions for their teachers. Students voiced desire for choices in selecting reading materials, writing topics and genre. They preferred having extended periods of time to engage in reading and writing activities, rather than…

In the May 2009 issue of "English Journal", we reported on our analysis of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress to provide a first look at changes in the teaching of writing over the past 30 years. In this article, we provide a more detailed look, drawing on data collected from visits to 260 English, math, social…

Analyzes four informal science-related writing tasks produced by seventh-grade students (n=374) from two schools with different socioeconomic populations. Demonstrates that students' informal writing in the science context can provide a rich source of information regarding students' cognitive and attitudinal engagement with science. (Author/CCM)

Based on the tenets of Leon Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance, five preconditions for dissonance arousal were operationalized in a counterattitudinal essay writing task. The five preconditions were: perceived choice, irrevocable commitment, minimum incentive, perceived responsibility for consequences, and foreseeability of negative…

Discusses how fairy tales provide the vehicle by which students become genuinely engaged in reading and writing short fiction. Outlines a three-step process moving students from familiar stories, to variations on traditional tales, finally to new stories. Details how writing, revising, illustrating, and binding a fairy tale engages students. (PM)

Describes how the author used research booklets to be read by sixth graders, poetry books, and taking part in a city-wide writing competition with her eighth-grade students to combat a general apathy in many students' writing efforts. Suggests the projects spoke to individual interests, helped students find a purpose to write, and improved the…

This article presents findings from research in a school district using handhelds to support writing across the curriculum. The authors report that handheld devices can be useful to foster classroom note-taking activities, assist students who have handwriting difficulties, and provide inspiration to teachers who want to create collaborative and…

A study determined if exposing middle school students to stories and poems that show what virtues look like, how they are practiced, how to recognize them, and how they work, would have a significant effect on the degree of assimilation of these virtues expressed by the students. Sixth-grade students (n=23) attending a suburban middle school in…

This book is a collection of essays by full-time classroom teachers who describe their efforts to implement the vision of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Standards documents and to empower their students in mathematics. Chapter 1, "Students' Conceptions of Mathematics and the Challenge of the Standards" (Dorothy Buerk),…

Presents a learning activity to help students see themselves as part of the historical process. Describes the nine-week project in which students solicit written or oral remembrances of family, local, and national history. Maintains that the project integrated history and writing in a meaningful way for students. (CFR)