A symposium in the November 2006 issue of "College English" addresses the question, "What should college English be?" In this article, the author presents his answer to this question--it should be a functional approach to English studies. By English studies he means everything that is done in English departments. Most English departments teach…

The author was keen to look at advertising with her online classes, both in Business Enterprise (looking at how businesses operate, target marketing, language used in business etc) and in Creative Writing as she felt that this was a topic which worked in both areas and was an important one due to the huge impact and the big intrusion that…

In June 2008, the Department of English at the University of Minnesota partnered with the Minnesota Spoken Word Association to inaugurate an outreach literacy program for local high-school students and teachers. The four-day institute, named "In Da Tradition," used spoken word and hip hop to teach academic and creative writing to core-city…

Describes the scripting, casting, and filming of "The Loves and Hates of Mrs. Jones" by an elementary language arts class. (RB)

Presents one teacher's observations on the activities happening in the writing and drawing classes in New York's P. S. 84. (RB)

Writing "lie" papers helped students develop both critical and writing abilities. (JH)

Intended for high school and college teachers who are interested in how creative writing can be taught effectively, this book features the ideas of poets, novelists, editors, and playwrights on the fundamental aspects of their craft. The book contains the following chapters: (1) "Notes from a Cell: Creative Writing Programs in Isolation"…

This paper argues that provocative questions can be used by teachers to help students write. Described are a series of questions drawn from rhetorical theory, such as "How many times can I change focus so as to get the most complete understanding of a topic?""When does X occur?""Why does X occur?" and "What does X cause or prompt?" Several…

Imitation can be a useful method of teaching students to write well. Imitations may be "loose" or "close." Loose imitation aims for faint resemblance; it requires a perception of a particular model that looks at its most conspicuous features, such as tone, arrangement of ideas, and the general character of the diction. Close imitation aims at…

The intention of this book is to introduce college students to the genre of poetry from the writer's point of view by presenting them with the same problems that aspiring poets encounter as they develop into accomplished poets. The book proceeds from some general observations to simple exercises, and then to more complex exercises, with many…

Creative writing is considered as a form of creative expression in which the child expresses his ideas, feelings, or reactions. This expression is original and spontaneous, and allows the child to organize his experiences so that they assume a personal meaning. With this experience, the child, through the process of symbolization, adds to his…

This teacher-aid book discusses: (1) Setting the Creative Climate; (2) Description; (3) Writing Stories; (4) Writing Poetry; (5) Creative Writing Projects; and (6) Maintaining the Creative Climate. A short bibliography of works that are either folk tales or poetry is given. (DB)

A major task of teachers is to help all children to enjoy creative writing and to become effective in written communication. Literature may be read to inspire children to write, to help them explore their own imaginations, and to show them techniques used by other authors in characterization and dramatization. Children may share stories they…

"Chance Dance" is a success-oriented learning technique which gives students an opportunity to explore a word or a concept through oral expression, dance, and creative writing. This is done by first eliciting from the group all possible verbal associations for a selected word or concept and then, in smaller groups, choreographing some of these…

A fifth grader wanted to know what he had to do to get all his ideas the way he wanted them in his story writing "and" have the spelling, punctuation and quotation marks correctly styled. His teacher encouraged him to think about writing as a process and provided the student with three steps as guidelines for effective writing. (Author/RK)