This paper cites descriptions, by professional writers, of two stages in the composing process that appear to correspond with the two modes of mental activity separately controlled by the hemispheres of the brain. The stage of writing a first draft involves unconscious, personal, irrational, intuitive writing which may be called "writing for…

Classroom spelling programs should grow out of the children's individual needs and include various writing opportunities. (JH)

Suggested topics, beginning sentences, and illustrated ideas can motivate young writers, stimulate their imaginations, and give them reference points for the development of their thoughts on paper. This document offers illustrated questions and seasonal topics as writing ideas for students in the primary grades. Creative ideas for students in the…

A video-assisted strategic intervention for developing written expression skills was field tested during a summer school session for 71 at-risk middle school students. Results indicated significantly greater gains in written expression skills than produced by the traditional, grammar-based language arts instruction delivered to a comparison group.…

Developmental writing activities (186), based on the theory that the process of writing can be arranged in a hierarchical chain of learning experiences, are divided among six chapters: "The Ebb and Flow of Writing,""Composition Writing as an Artistic Expression,""Spelling Problems and the Flow of Expression,""Traditional and Experimental Verse…

Describes a learning activity that helps children learn to combine the journalistic writing style found in newspaper headlines with the story structure of novels. (MG)

In Sweden the International Association Evaluation of Educational Achievement in written composition study involved 4,500 students from grades 6 and 9, as well as students from the terminal grades of the upper secondary school. Students wrote essays of various kinds and replied to questionnaires. Essays were evaluated according to content,…

Reviews some of the author's own mistakes and successes to help guide other writers and teachers interested in projects in which they collaborate with a visual artist to improve students' writing skills and visual art ability. (MG)

To determine how writing, as compared to other learning activities, affects both good and poor writers' ability to remember factual information and transfer learning, a study (1) investigated the effectiveness of a writing activity requiring students to develop compositions by synthesizing information read, and (2) explored the correspondences…

An intermediate level unit on biography writing focuses on the use of reference skills to help students learn the organizational steps in writing a report about a person's life. Activities include notetaking, citing sources, outlining, writing complete sentences, and writing paragraphs, including introductory and summary paragraphs. The sessions…

To prevent children with reading difficulties from thinking of themselves as failures, academic experiences must include projects that will motivate them to be responsible learners, enhance their self-concept, and reinforce all the language arts skills. One class of sixth grade students with reading disabilities made minibooks from greeting cards…

Intended for teachers of students in grades 4 through 8 and beyond, this book offers a simple process for teaching students to think critically and write logically. Each lesson in the book provides three different writing templates: the beginning template is intended for third- and fourth-grade students; the intermediate, for grades 4 through 6;…

This guide provides materials for teaching a writing remediation class in the intermediate grades. Sections of this guide include: (1) background information for teachers about the writing process; (2) teaching units containing activities and games on selection of writing topics, organization of the elements in a paragraph, development of ideas,…