Background: This study involved a bicoastal project between four composition classes, two in California and two in Pennsylvania. The focus was on how students read, write, and converse about ethnic and spiritual distinctiveness and the role of writing in identity development. Purpose: The researchers exercised a variety of methods (diverse…

This study investigated the effects of autobiographical writing before reading on ninth graders' discussion and understanding of two short stories. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of audiotaped class discussion revealed that students who had written about relevant personal experience before reading were more substantively engaged in…

A Dutch teacher presents reading, film viewing, and writing activities for "Empire of the Sun," J. G. Ballard's autobiographical account of life as a boy in Shanghai and in a Japanese internment camp during World War II (the subject of Steven Spielberg's film of the same name). Includes objectives, procedures, and several literature,…

This paper describes a graduate course using biographical materials for teachers to work through their understandings of reading and writing as personal, valuable processes. The course consists of three parts; each session begins with the reading of a children's picture book that deals with reading and writing; next, the class reads the…