This article discusses one teacher's efforts to give their students a mentor text for a persuasive, research-based writing project. The author's shift from assigning predominantly fiction to focusing more on nonfiction came as a result of their efforts to help their students move from students' current writing style -- that of a five-paragraph…

This article describes how second-grade students' literacy learning was enhanced as they used their developing knowledge of nonfiction in an integrated English language arts/science unit toward the creation of multimodal nonfiction science books. After explaining the Common Core State Standards that guided the unit, the author outlines the…

How can writing instructors prepare students for informed and engaged civic discourse when opportunities for such discourse are seemingly limited and ineffective? This essay examines this question by reporting on a case study that explored civic discourse and civic participation at the local level of government. The aims of the case study were to…

As students move from writing personal essays to writing formal academic texts in English, they face several new challenges. Writing tasks in higher education often require students to draw upon outside sources and to adopt the styles and genres of academic discourse. They must conduct research, summarize and paraphrase, cite sources, adopt genre…

Describes three alternatives to the student research report: (1) collaborative research; (2) Ken Macrorie's "I-Search"; and (3) the saturation report. Notes that all three activities are concerned with integrating inquiry, learning, and writing. (MM)

English 317 is a second writing course designed for business majors primarily but available to all students who need to fulfill the second writing course requirement. The purpose of the philanthropic research recommendation report is to familiarize students with the ways that corporations envision and enact social responsibility as depicted on…

Describes a four- to six-week project for high school sophomores in which students create pamphlets and in the process learn basic research skills and practice several elements of the research paper. (SR)

Describes a biography-writing project that links research to literary discourse. Notes that the power of literary discourse supported the research project and tapped students' energy to write. (MM)

Describes a research project in which students write on the same topic--fast food chains. (MM)

Describes a research project in which students investigate a personal "bad" habit. (MM)

Describes a three-part career research project for high school seniors: a library-research chapter describing the career; an interview chapter about a person working in the career field; and a personal-experience chapter about spending a full day observing and working with a professional from that career field. (MM)

As a means of improving their writing skills, mostly African-American students from Elizabeth City State University gathered reports from African Americans in 16 northeastern North Carolina counties about extrasensory perception, contact with the dead, and other anomalous experiences and compared them to reports from Chinese students and students…

Outlines a series of activities for an integrated thematic unit on cars, engaging students in group projects, individually chosen assignments, and activities based on observation of and immersion in the "car-related" culture. Bases the unit on a progression of cultural learning goals. (MM)

Discusses how teachers can support students in primary grades by establishing an environment that is conducive to inquiry and by helping children develop basic research skills. Highlights procedures for teaching students how to write informational reports, and describes how the procedures were applied in a third-grade and a first-grade class. (KB)

Argues that, especially in the intermediate grades, keying into students' personal interests is a powerful motivator for learning. Illustrates this with the story of a formerly excellent student who became disillusioned with school in fifth grade, becoming resistant and disruptive. Describes how a project approach to reading and writing that…