Effective informational writing assignments show students that creativity and imagination are essential to the generation of new ideas in all content areas. A collection of these assignments has been arranged into five categories of increasing complexity based on the following criteria: whether the point of view is assigned as self-selected;…

Writing across the curriculum, or "writing-as-learning" (WAL), represents one of the most successful developments in writing instruction. WAL is an efficient teaching method for achieving educational goals in today's society because it effectively engages students in both the means and the ends of their education. Research has shown that…

Presents the idea of writing in a sixth-grade mathematics classroom in order to enable students to view mathematics not as an isolated subject but as a living part of the world where ideas can be communicated using language. Includes a rubric for assessing a mathematical storybook produced by teacher and students. (ASK)

Social studies teachers need to stress the concept of writing in the social studies. A quality curriculum advocates that learners write across the curriculum. Creating experience charts, developing and writing outlines, writing book reports and developing various activities around library books read, and writing diary entries are all activities…

A current selection from the many citations of material in the ERIC database, this bibliography offers practical information for introducing and implementing writing across the curriculum programs in elementary and secondary schools. The bibliography is divided into sections on (1) writing across the curriculum (8 citations); (2) writing to learn…

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…

Using a sequential approach, this booklet identifies a number of research skills students need to become independent in gathering and presenting information. The booklet begins with a brief description of the sequential development of research skills it recommends, a bar graph representation of the skills used as a curriculum planner, and a…

Discusses the importance of writing activities in the social studies, stating that teachers must plan assignments which provide opportunities for students to communicate their own understanding of the subject matter. Provides guidelines and examples of works of poetry, historical fiction, letter writing, and current events. (GEA)

Describes SPAWN, a technique for helping teachers make writing assignments in which students must first read, then integrate information from reading with their background experiences, to produce a piece of writing. (FL)

Attempting to place in an American context many of the ideas about the teaching of writing that were first developed in England, this book contains contributions from internationally prominent teachers/scholars who attended the New York University-CBS Sunrise Semester course on learning to write and writing to learn. The text also reflects the…

Addressing the concern that writing assignments are used only for recording or relating information, a program called "Writing in Content Areas" has been developed in Minnesota to help students and teachers use writing as a tool for learning. Students are encouraged to use expressive writing for working out ideas, relationships, understandings,…

Intended for teachers in all content areas, this guide provides activities for teaching formula poetry (poetry written according to a defined format) in all subject areas. First, a rationale for why teachers should include writing in their classrooms is presented. Next, the stages of the writing process are explained and the benefits of formula…

Intended to be a practical guide to prereading activities applicable in the classroom, this book emphasizes students' independence by shifting the focus of instruction to student-centered applications. Chapters of the book cover such topics as: (1) preparing students to read in the content areas; (2) asking and answering questions before reading;…

Noting that writing should be part of the instructional/learning strategies used in every classroom across the curriculum at all grade levels, this guide presents activities for using various kinds of writing in the content areas. The guide presents the activities according to the following writing types: (1) journal writing, (2) letter writing,…

Describes a content area writing lesson which uses a process approach to promote independent student writing and to aid retention. Uses the Predict, Organize, Rehearse, Practice, Evaluate (PORPE) strategy which provides teacher modeling of effective strategies, guided student practice, and feedback. (RS)