To dramatize the need for logical organization and precise definition, students are asked to write essays describing specific everyday objects (e.g., screwdriver, nutpick). After the essay is read aloud the class tries to guess the item and comments on the effectiveness of the description. (DS)

Creative inductive exercises for teaching effective writing skills are presented. Basic objectives of the inductive method include: (1) challenging students with creative options; (2) discovering the basics in sentence construction; (3) interpreting the idea of the "levels of generality;" and (4) focusing on the parallel between sentence…

Recommends that teachers look for and value the freshness, naivete, humor, and wisdom in children's writing. Samples of children's writing are provided to illustrate these traits. (AEA)

This magazine contains literary pieces/writings by 31 new writers in the southeastern United States. The works span a broad range of topics: remembering times past, reflections on special people, social concerns, family life, and work. Authors' comments or autobiographical notes and photographs accompany the pieces. Titles include the following:…

Offering activities for secondary school students and amateur creative writers, this book demonstrates how teachers can break out of "high culture" stereotypes that make students think poetry has no connection with real life. Part one discusses the essentials of poetry and the roles of poets from ancient oral cultures to the present. The…

This curriculum guide is the result of stories that students in workplace education classes have created in class and chosen to publish. The learners for whom this curriculum is designed are adult students voluntarily enrolled in a workplace education class in which the focus is literacy or basic skills training. Contents include the following:…

Outlines an integrated study approach to informational writing for second grade children. Using dinosaurs as the topic, discusses how students solved the problem of selecting, organizing, and structuring their information by focusing on smaller pieces of information or by planning a contents page for their book. (MM)

This publication contains the stories of seven African-American students in the literacy class at the Council for Senior Citizens in Warrenton, North Carolina. The stories were inspired by photographs selected from photographic books with images of African Americans in familiar settings, particularly rural settings. Autobiographical information…

By following the "steppingstone" or marker theory of dividing one's life into no more than 12 and no less than 8 significant periods, a student in a writing course can develop a brief response for each phase to articulate multiple experiences. Writing teachers can aid students in realizing that important life experiences are the stuff of…

A case study was conducted in which a teacher followed the progress of a first grade boy over the course of a semester, collecting samples of his written work and observing his interaction with peers. The teacher came to understand how the boy expressed his uniqueness in his writing, and how important it is for all students to be allowed to use…

CraftPlus is an integrated learning package that consists of a K-8 spiraling, core writing curriculum based on explicit Target Skills instruction; professional books; grade-level Curriculum Guides; sixteen workshop and classroom demonstration DVDs; and a CD with student samples and other classroom support materials. The grade-level Curriculum…