Designed to help teachers find an effective approach in teaching expository writing, this guide divides expository writing into five main types: definition/classification, comparison/contrast, thesis/proof, problem/solution, and inference (drawing conclusions). Five different starter techniques are presented with each of the five main types of…

In this article a method to improve sentence writing ability called sentence combining is explained. The potential effects of sentence combining are related and relevant research summarized. In addition, how to introduce sentence combining practice to a class, key instructional components including oral practice and peer assistance, sources of…

The case method seems particularly useful in helping college students to overcome anxiety about writing and even in persuading them that writing is a "real-world" skill that they can master just as they would any other skill. It has the further advantages of integrating reading and writing and of allowing students to develop and use…

Researchers, coaches, and players of racquet sports were brought together for this symposium on four racquet sports. Although most of the papers presented at the symposium were written by Americans, one of the speakers was from Canada, and another was from Australia. The sports represented were badminton, racquetball, tennis, and squash. In Part…

Seeking to involve students more actively in their writing assignments, two teachers developed a group of sequential writing assignments with an interdisciplinary emphasis for students in an advanced writing course. The goal of these writing assignments was to give students who had solved most of their mechanical writing problems a chance to…

Two exercises that can be used with journalism students to help them clarify and think through the editorial process are the repertory grid and the coorientation model. A technique developed in England by the followers of psychologist George Kelly, the repertory grid asks students to rank ten or twelve authors on criteria such as social…

Intended for students in regular and advanced composition classes, each of the four controlled composition exercises presented in this paper aims at teaching writing style through carefully constructed short passages that concentrate on an isolated problem in style such as parallel structure, relative clauses, pseudo-relative clauses, and…

STEPS IN TEACHING EACH LESSON IN OPERATION ALPHABET 2, A SERIES OF WORKBOOKS FOR ADULTS LEARNING TO READ AND WRITE, ARE OUTLINE--STIMULATING INTEREST, NEW WORDS, SILENT READING, QUESTIONING FOR COMPREHENSION, REEXAMINATION OF NEW WORDS, READING EXERCISES, WRITING PRACTICE, AND PARAGRAPH WRITING. LESSON PLANS FOR BOTH VOLUMES ARE INCLUDED. THIS…

The 17 articles in this journal issue focus on writing and writing instruction. The articles discuss the following: (1) the NorthEast Texas, Texas Hill Country, and University of Arizona writing projects; (2) the necessity of dealing with truth in the writing class, not as a concept to be defined, but as an act that creates and recreates…

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. It describes four sequences for teaching writing developed by four teachers at four different levels--kindergarten through grade three, intermediate grades, grades…

Prepared as part of the evaluation of the Bay Area Writing Project (BAWP), this report offers descriptions of promising practices in composition instruction. It explains the selection criteria and classification scheme used and describes practices in the following four categories: (1) structuring of writing programs, (2) teaching the elements of…

This handbook is offered to help content area teachers in their efforts to extend the development of writing skills beyond the English classroom and to help students prepare for the New York State Regents Competency Test in Writing. Two sections of the book discuss ways of introducing writing into the content area classroom and responding to…

A set of writing assignments and class activities designed to help students analyze their own writing processes, define their own strengths and weaknesses as writers, set their own goals, devise plans for achieving those goals, and evaluate their own progress is presented in this paper. The assignments are explained in detail, and suggestions for…

Presented in this article are suggested strategies for developing skills in written communication. The topics addressed include spelling and syntax. Emphasis is on individualized student needs and making instruction functional and relevant to the requirements of today's society. (EB)