The relationship between reading and writing is explored in this book. Titles of the book's essays and their authors are as follows: (1) "What Is the Value of Connecting Reading and Writing?" by Robert J. Tierney and Margie Leys; (2) "Reflective Thought: The Connection between Reading and Writing" by June Cannell Birnbaum; (3)…

Although it does not express the official position of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) or of the NCTE Committee on Instructional Technology, this annual report of the NCTE Committee on Instructional Technology discusses the impact of technological advances on classroom instruction. The first section of the report documents a…

A participant observation study of a primary grade classroom, in which three first grade students were selected as case study subjects, illustrates the range of workstyles of beginning writers. Primary grade teachers are often concerned that their students are not producing writing comparable with their capabilities, but educators' conceptions of…

Noting the powerful influence of writing skills on thinking skills, reading comprehension, and knowledge retention, this concept paper examines writing as it is used in the classroom, focusing specifically on the writing process. Following a rationale for teaching writing is a summary of related research that highlights practice as the most…

Drawing on the experiences of teachers of writing in elementary through junior high schools, the teaching strategies presented in this collection are grouped into four sections: prewriting, drafting, editing and publishing, and systems. Topics covered in the prewriting section include listening skills; thinking, speaking, and writing;…

Designing a curriculum to introduce freshman composition students to computer assisted composition involves the cooperation of the composition instructor and the writing center director. One college has developed such a curriculum using the "Milliken Word Processor" (Milliken Publishing Company), a simple program with a variety of…

Process writing and communicative-task-based instruction both assume productive tasks that prompt self-expression to motivate students and as the principal engine for developing L2 proficiency in the language classroom. Besides this, process writing and communicative-task-based instruction have much else in common, despite some obvious…

Recent brain research demonstrates that the left hemisphere of the brain processes information in a linear, organized way. The right hemisphere processes the same information as a whole, with a focus on nonverbal, spatial components. Current educational practice is inordinately skewed to develop only the left hemisphere of the brain. Data from…

This booklet is one of a series of teacher-written curriculum publications launched by the Bay Area Writing Project, each focusing on a different aspect of the teaching of composition. After a brief introduction in which the writing concepts of fluency, shape, and correctness are defined, the rest of the booklet presents the work of three…

This booklet is one of a series of teacher-written curriculum publications launched by the Bay Area Writing Project, each focusing on a different aspect of the teaching of composition. The booklet traces the growth of a reluctant writer through a semester of a remedial writing class program, using samples of the student's writing to illustrate…

An 11-step process may be used by freshman composition students to help them write effective prose in a series of clear steps. The steps are: (1) select a topic (for the first assignment, usually a place about which students have strong feelings and vivid remembrances), (2) individually brainstorm the topic, (3) categorize the details that have…

Explores why it is both difficult and vital to model nonauthoritarian, student-centered, collaborative learning in a teacher workshop on writing. (SRT)

Discusses nine orthodoxies, including the idea that spelling, grammar, and punctuation are unimportant, that decrease teacher effectiveness. (DF)

Addressing major themes of the commission's "Open Letter to the American People," this article discusses reading and writing skills development, and the cognitive skills involved in these processes. An effective teaching method, the Language Experience Approach based on aural/oral language with reading and writing combined, is detailed. (MBR)

Drawing on stories from classrooms, examples of student writing, and illustrations, this book explains in practical terms the theoretical underpinnings of how elementary school students learn to write from their reading. Beginning with the concepts that underlie how writing teachers teach students to write by studying other writers, it goes on to…