Introductory biology courses are supposed to serve as gateways for many majors, but too often they serve instead as gatekeepers. Reliance on lectures, large classes, and multiple-choice tests results in high drop and failure rates. Critiques of undergraduate science education are clear about the problems with conventional introductory science…

People are writing as never before--in blogs and text messages and on MySpace and Facebook and Twitter. Teenagers do a good deal of this writing, and in some composing environments--for example, the text-messaging space of a cell phone--they are ahead of adults in their invention of new writing practices and new genres. At the same time, teenagers…

Contends that by using nonfiction writing as a daily developmental process, a child finds a predictable, nurturing, and accepting environment which helps teachers understand their students, helps children learn, and promotes acceptance of both the student and the child. (MS)

Outlines a writing-across-the-curriculum program for high schools. Discusses the role of content area teachers in such a program. (FL)

Describes the Reading/Writing Task, a procedure used to assess what students recall and comprehend from their reading but that also guides them to recall, summarize, and react to what they have read. Discusses the activities involved in the task and the evaluation procedure, and outlines the Reading/Writing Task scoring framework. (TJQ)

Describes a writing assignment which allows students to exercise creativity communicating set facts while utilizing narrative techniques covered in class (sentence variety, dominant impressions, narrative action, detailing, etc.), and in which peers judge how effectively and consistently the information was communicated, illuminating the…

Describes a summer writing course by presenting a diary embellished with writing exercises, a course guide, a list of writing activities that can be taken as starters, and assessments. Discusses how each participant is asked to create a text about a city which has a considerable visual presence, and to explore stereotypical and mythical versions…

Outlines a program in journal writing and self-assessment for college students. (AEA)

Stephen Tchudi, among others, argues that the distinction between expository writing and creative writing is finally a false distinction. Louise Rosenblatt explains that whether readers are reading creative writing or expository writing, they expect the experience of reading to provide them with both information and pleasure. A corollary of these…

Proposes a seven-stage model to assist in the process of synchronizing the rhythm of teachers' activities with those of their students. (DF)

The Basics Skills English 100 course at Slippery Rock University, having changed from a traditional approach to an approach that reflects knowledge gained through research about the needs of basic writers, shows the progress basic writers can make in a summer program. Thirty students met six times a week for five weeks in one-and-a-half hour…

This paper presents 40 writing assignments and 16 scoring guides used by elementary and junior high school teachers who participated in a writing research and resources project in connection with primary trait scoring. Not all of the assignments presented were originated by the teachers: some were taken or adapted from a textbook; occasionally…

A writing-across-the-curriculum program has been initiated at the East Campus of Pima Community College in an effort to improve student literacy. The program operates in the following manner: (1) faculty in all disciplines on campus are asked to get involved in the program, those who participate being paid a one-time fee of $100 for their efforts;…

Discusses writing strategies that can be used in mathematics classes, including: (1) free writing; (2) writing in journals; (3) in-class writing; and (4) term papers. A checklist for evaluating student's writing is included and a rating scale for central idea, organization, development, style, and technical control is given. (JN)

In an effort to encourage the integration of writing as a communicative act in the second language classroom, information is presented about the purposes of writing in the second language classroom, types of writing tasks, proficiency levels in writing, writing activities, and writing evaluation. (Author/CB)