Richard Kerridge writes here about his efforts to help students to overcome an experience that was once his own: of being labelled low-ability, with all the attendant lowering of expectations that this entails. He recognises the merits of rigorously ensuring that all students should be able to access their entitlement in terms of what they are…

When people reflect on their important values, they may become more attuned to the needs of others. Two longitudinal field experiments examined whether a subtle value-affirmation manipulation can initiate relatively enduring increases in young adolescents' prosocial feelings (Study 1; M [subscript age] = 12.9) and prosocial behaviors (Study 2; M…

Provides a chapter-by-chapter list of possible writing exercises to be used in conjunction with Frederick Douglass's "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave." States that the aim of the exercises is to encourage complexity of thought and feeling. (PA)

Examines some of Mark Twain's advice about writing. (IRT)

Illustrates how writing exercises involving epitaphs may be used to teach brevity, restraint, and lucidity. (DD)

Provides a rationale for high school writing assignments focusing on a wide range of personal, social, and moral issues related to responsible living. Offers a sequence of such assignments reflecting increasing complex writing and thinking skills for grades 7 to 12. (DMM)

Discusses the use of exercises that help students learn to write poetry. (HOD)

Drawing on his own experiences as a student and as an English teacher, the author considers the learning value of the marks and comments teachers make on students' compositions. (SJL)

Designed to encourage students to discover that grammar merely represents the patterns that exist in language, this book presents lessons on 19 grammar points: nouns; pronouns; verbs; subjects; capitalization; end punctuation; commas; sentence fragments; run-on sentences; contractions; possessives; quotation marks; adjectives; adverbs;…

Designed as a supplement to traditional writing texts, this workbook contains activities that allow students to form grammatically sophisticated sentences without having to study formal grammar. The 68 lessons in the workbook progress from relatively simple to complex, with each stressing a particular way of combining sentences. The various…

Careful use of analogy can create interesting and sharp writing. Some of the problems are that an analogy imposes an attitude, there must be a counterpart, details may or may not correspond point-for-point, and an analogy starts in difference and is then brought into the realm of likeness. (TJ)

Describes using the beginning of a Western story in a story completion exercise to stimulate writing. (TJ)

Offers seven effective learning activities for the first day of class. (MS)

Discusses research and theory related to journal writing and provides a rationale for including it in the language arts classroom. (FL)