In the English classroom, narrative writing is often separated from the work of reading literature or used merely to coax reluctant students into discussing textually relevant topics. This article discusses a close writing activity, Image Explosion, that engages students in narrative writing that brings attention to the smallest details of…

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effect of creative writing exercises on narrative text writing skills and advanced reading awareness. To do that one of the mixed research designs, "exploratory sequential design" was used. The quantitative part of the study, in which a pretest post-test research design was used,…

This piece introduces methods -- textual interventions -- for teaching close reading through film literacy. Editing is the mechanism that creates meaning out of moving images. To unlock a film's visual "secrets," we must break the sequences of editing; move its hinges; reread and revise the cut.

The study presents a critical analysis of written expression curriculum-based measurement (WE-CBM) metrics derived from 3- and 10-min test lengths. Criterion validity and classification accuracy were examined for Total Words Written (TWW), Correct Writing Sequences (CWS), Percent Correct Writing Sequences (%CWS), and Correct Minus Incorrect…

Purpose: This paper aims to draw on the analysis of instruction and student work in an English Language Arts classroom to discuss how teachers may support dispossessed students' journeys toward radical healing (Ginwright, 2010) by using critically caring pedagogies -- pedagogies grounded in teachers' deep understanding of the systemic inequalities…

In this report, we examine the feasibility of characterizing writing performance using process features derived from a keystroke log. Using data derived from a set of "CBAL"™ writing assessments, we examine the following research questions: (a) How stable are the keystroke timing and process features across testing occasions?; (b) How…

Purpose: This paper, which originates in an English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) classroom activity in Hong Kong, aims to explore English learners' expressive and creative potential in writing by studying their work in the literary narrative genre. Design/methodology/approach: A group of upper secondary students (15-16 years of age) with limited…

Writing allows students to clarify their thinking. Through the process of writing, students recognize what they know and what they still need to learn. This article describes how a middle school mathematics teacher and language arts teacher worked with a secondary content area literacy professor during a specific writing assignment. The "How-to"…

A middle school language arts teacher reflects on his experience in utilizing a school-housed online social network to create avenues for authentic audience, purpose, and response to student writing. With many technology proponents advocating a 21st century education, the fact that interacting with the Web 2.0 environment is essentially a reading…

Schools with very few and relatively low-performing marginalized students may be most likely to trigger social identity threats (including stereotype threats) that contribute to racial disparities. We test this hypothesis by assessing variation in the benefits of a self-affirmation intervention designed to counteract social identity threat in a…

Describes a writing exercise in which students are asked to write questions to be submitted to a hypothetical computer. Suggestions for subsequent activities are provided. (TO)

If a teacher reads the children's stories to the whole class, the children begin to write for their peers rather than for the teacher's approval. The combination of hearing their stories read aloud and seeing their friends enjoyment is irresistible. The writing improves dramatically. (Author/MS)

Describes several activities which might be used in inservice courses to help language arts teachers experience the process of writing. (DD)