Argues that the perennial problem of boring student writing is solved when assignments provide writers with target readers, enabling students to find their appropriate voice. Discusses a sample assignment in which students explain how to do something they do well to readers who don't know how to do it. (JG)

Presents specific implications of writing research for teachers who work with gifted youngsters in elementary school writing. Supports the use of derived plot patterns and point of view as two types of literature-based writing assignments that work especially well with gifted students. (MS)

Recommends the use of a fictitious term paper with stringent format requirements, but without content, to enable students to concentrate on format. Emphasizes that the assignment gives students an opportunity to experience school as play. (MS)

Reports on an interdisciplinary teachers' workshop procedure for collaborating on theme and essay question assignment writing. Outlines the process of examining assignments and describes the discussion of one assignment critiqued in the workshop. Emphasizes the relationship between assignment purpose and writing assessment and the students'…

Describes an elementary school exercise in which students are assigned to write letters about their acts of misbehavior to persons involved in the incidents. Points out that such letters contain the elements of (1) a real, knowable audience; (2) internal motivation; and (3) a concern for clarity. Includes examples of student letters. (SG)

Argues for using and creating negative examples to teach writing. Includes ideas for the following areas: (1) the worst grammar; (2) terrible leads; (3) the worst possible article; (4) the awful two-page spread; and (5) rules for breaking the rules. (MS)

Suggests that teachers attempt to have children write poetry that deals with the senses. Develops lessons to demonstrate to students their own potential for writing poetry. (MS)

Suggests that if students are to become comfortable enough with poetry to freely write about it, they must first discover the poetry in themselves. Offers a composition-poetry method that allows students to experience poetry, analyze their writing processes, and synthesize all the information gained from doing and analyzing. (MS)

Describes a sequence of writing exercises that synthesizes current work on expressive discourse, learning theory, and classical exercises of the kind that are represented in Quintilian's progymnasmata. (HOD)

By focusing their attention closely on a written text, cloze passages help students learn more about how language works--the interaction of vocabulary and syntax, the influence of diction on style, the important grammatical relationships between words in a sentence, and the logical relationships between sentences in a paragraph. (HOD)

Explains how a writing course with lyric poetry as its subject matter, when designed according to cognitivist principles, provides an environment in which students can grow as writers and also mature in their ability to respond to literature. (HOD)

Argues that teachers can help students develop writing competence by stressing social aspects of language and learning. Describes the mutual teacher-student negotiation observed in two elementary schools. Shows that student writing can improve through the creation of a community of children supportive of one another's language efforts. (SG)

Noting that students in groups learn more effectively when working cooperatively than when working competitively or individualistically, presents guidelines, assignments, and class activities designed to foster cooperative learning. Describes such student-student interaction sessions as describing sense perception details, receiving peer feedback,…

Posing as an avuncular letter writer, the author discusses the problems faced by first-time teachers teaching fourth-grade composition. Proposes exercises to motivate children to write, communication inspiring ways to arrange classroom environment, guided free-writing assignments, and heuristics prompts for writing a fairy tale. (JG)

Examines teacher attitudes that inhibit experimentation and stifle the development of beginning writers. Illustrates the drawbacks of insisting on (1) using only one approach to learning to write, (2) keeping a quiet classroom, (3) fitting letters between the lines of ruled paper, (4) using primary pencils for all writing activities, and (5)…