Award-winning author Carolyn Coman has made a career out of writing stories for children and young adults as well as teaching writing to people of all ages. She believes that the essence of good writing, no matter the genre, is the ability to craft a solid story. In this innovative book, Carolyn provides advice, strategies, and inspiration…

We introduced writing activities into a project style third year undergraduate biomolecular science laboratory to assist the students to produce a final report in the form of a journal article. To encourage writing while the experimental work was proceeding, the embedded writing activities required ongoing analysis of experimental data. After…

Educational reform initiatives of the last decade have focused on the three R's: reading, writing, and arithmetic, with writing receiving the least attention in the research literature (National Commission on Writing, 2003). Studies of writing performance in United States schoolchildren indicate that many are writing only at basic levels. The…

The purpose of the conference presentation upon which this paper is inspired was to present an innovative approach to motivate students to write in a second language during a first-year Spanish class. Usually, students comply with writing exercises that convey basic thoughts, due to constrained vocabulary and limited knowledge of grammatical…

Much of the work in academic writing has focused on the cognitive rather than the affective and social aspects involved in project-based writing. Emphasis in past research has been on skills and processes of writing rather than on affective factors such as motivation, attitudes, feelings or social factors involving intrapersonal and interpersonal…

Describes how using split screens allows students to see writing as a complex and recursive yet coherent process rather than as a linear progression of distinct activities. Suggests that "windows" encourage sustained engagement in prewriting by opening accessible passageways for movement from prewriting and planning to drafting and…

Intended for the reluctant writer who finds writing difficult or is unable to put ideas on paper, this guide examines the characteristics of the reluctant writer and suggests strategies for teachers to use when dealing with these characteristics. It also reviews the writing process, categorizes the reluctant writer according to grade level, and…

Notes the villanelle is one of English poetry's most demanding forms. Discusses two distinct ways in which a villanelle unfolds - as a satellite or as a snowball. Describes how the meaning of the repeating lines in a snowball villanelle change and increase with each recurrence. Presents exercises for teaching the villanelle. (SG)

Based on the idea that poetry, like any art, is best mastered through practice, this handbook for poets combines poetry-writing exercises with personal essays by each contributing poet. Some of the poets represented in the handbook are: Maxine Kumin, Rita Dove, Roger Mitchell, Carol Muske, Sydney Lea, and J. D. McClatchy. The exercises in the…

Students do not need to be told that they are socially constituted so much as they need to experience, in concrete terms, what that means. In an era of identity politics, they need to experience the labels they choose (or the labels chosen for them) as no less problematic than they are inevitable. A means to this end is a classroom heuristic tried…

Uses a single language system--technical description--to illustrate how language systems can now be used as the basis for instruction in technical writing. Provides sample exercises in progressive teaching from simple description to complex continuity devices, showing how they can be used at all stages of the writing process. (HTH)

Argues that journal writing expands students' discoveries about themselves as writers, and extends their abilities to take charge of writing assignments in both English and non-English courses. (MS)

Proposes as a follow-up to an article on controlled composition for basic writers a necessary bridge between strict copying and independent composing. (HTH)

Discusses length and speed, spontaneity, and discipline as the attributes that affect creative writing assignments, students' development as creative writers, and appropriate methods of teaching creative writing. (RL)

Presents a writing exercise which involves students in their own and their peers' writing. Claims validity in that it personifies one of the most persistent blocks to expression--the inner critic which causes the writer to reject too soon and discriminate too severely. (RAE)