States essential principles in the teaching of writing, prepared by the Commission on Composition of the National Council of Teachers of English. (HTH)

Examines materials in the ERIC database on the characteristics of the reluctant writer, the effect of apprehension on writing performance, and teaching strategies to encourage writing proficiency. (HTH)

Describes an informal study to determine whether elementary school students could use writing to help them learn math. Results indicated improved scores when compared to another class and also indicated more accurately which students did and did not understand the math concepts being taught. (HTH)

Examines ERIC materials on the nature of and supporting the use of invented spelling in elementary school writing. (HTH)

Examines the differences between writing research conducted in England and that conducted in Canada and North America. Discusses how educators and researchers have used their observations to derive a pedagogy and have done so much too rapidly. (HTH)

Examines progressively more competent writing samples from a third grader's journal to illustrate the possibilities for using journals "across the curriculum." (HTH)

Examines the connections between children's writing and their earlier developed form of graphic symbolism--drawing--and explores research on early writing development. Considers the range of contexts for drawing and writing presented in the classroom. (HTH)

Discusses the potential of microcomputers for accomplishing educational goals beyond drill and practice software. Describes a program in which students have access to a computer-based network that connects classrooms in four states, which allows peer response, develops a sense of audience, and gives students greater control over their literacy…

Follows a six-year-old boy and his writing-revising experiences at school, demonstrating how his independence as a writer develops. Teacher and peers initiate interactions with the writer as he listens and responds and gradually learns how to discuss writing and learns a sense of the purpose of revision. (HTH)

Writing researchers suggest that children should write stories in order to (1) entertain, (2) foster artistic expression, (3) explore the functions and values of writing, (4) stimulate imagination, (5) clarify thinking, (6) search for identity, and (7) learn to read and write. (HTH)

Discusses one teacher's gradual acceptance of poetry as a useful means for teaching many areas of the language arts. Includes a case study of one student's growth as a poet. (HTH)

Describes the methodology and results of a study of changes in composition pedagogy in elementary schools. Results indicated increasing time allocated to oral language activities unrelated to writing and decreasing amounts of time allocated to letter and prose writing, word development, and oral exercises used as prewriting strategies. (HTH)

Discusses how microcomputers can stimulate invention in composition, through electronic mail, text analysis, and word processing programs. Describes two exploratory studies designed to examine the feasibility of using a word processor for language experience and sentence-combining activities in the elementary school classroom. (HTH)

Shows how the classroom environment provided by a second- grade teacher allowed one of her students to experience her own writing process and develop as a writer. (RL)

Presents five strategies for helping elementary school students learn to write fiction: (1) stress topic selection; (2) use literature to teach fiction writing; (3) stress main character change or problem solving; (4) emphasize reality-based stories; and (5) encourage students to research their fiction. (SKC)