Discusses a writing exercise in which students are asked to describe a painting and analyze their response to it. (TJ)

Describes a writing exercise in which students write letters to a variety of people. (TJ)

Describes an exercise that encourages writing by students. Each student is given a limited amount of time to write about anything that comes to mind, the papers are redistributed and a second student adds to what has been written, a third student adds more, and a fourth student writes a conclusion. (TJ)

Teaching and testing writing can be structured so that the student progresses through a number of stages involving copying and developing sentences from: nonprint visual stimuli, manipulation of the printed word, visual stimulus by means of word completions, and oral stimuli. Sample exercises and evaluation formula are presented. (SW)

Describes a teaching technique designed to help students understand how and why technical writing works. Students study journal articles by answering lists of questions focusing on unity, coherency, definitions, illustrations, and documentation, then apply principles they learned through the exercise to preparing an informative report. (SKC)

Examines various definitions and pedagogies of critical thinking. Discusses the writing center's role in teaching critical thinking. (MM)

Describes a strategy whereby teachers allow students to determine the standards by which their writing will be judged, and, in doing so, convince students to share their beliefs about good writing. (ARH)

Offers four steps to broaden students' thinking by questioning the "facts" from cases or problems. Claims the assignment helps students understand the process of dissecting the parts of a problem, researching the alternatives, writing a factual report, and orally presenting recommendations. (MS)

Examined the number and types of classroom writing experiences in which elementary teachers and children in grades one, three, and five were engaged. Two major influences on instructional practices also were analyzed: teachers' perceptions of writing instruction and textbook guidelines. (DST)

Presents an exercise in which students must write five broadcast leads from five of the major newspaper stories reported on the day they were born. (HTH)

Describes an assignment for which students must respond in 20 minutes to a memo from their teacher announcing that their class projects are due a week earlier than previously announced. Argues that students learn about the real conditions of memo writing through this exercise. (SRT)

Suggests teaching characterization in literature classes by having students write an advertisement similar to the Dewar's scotch advertisement, based on each of the characters in the novel "Ordinary People." Examples are included. (HTH)

Describes a newswriting exercise to teach coverage of public speaking events in which students were asked to report on Jesus Christ's Sermon on the Mount. (HTH)

Describes a philosophy course with an expanded writing component. Includes samples of writing assignments. (HTH)

Describes a method for preparing students for vocabulary quizzes that enables students to make a personal connection with the new words. Students remember as many of the new words as they can, then free write about each one to arrive at a definition.