Given the focus of recent standards-based reforms, K-12 students are expected to engage in reading and writing activities across disciplines to strengthen their literacy skills in all content areas. These students are simultaneously called upon to develop understandings of the practices of science and engineering through their K-12 science…

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)

Describes both principles and use of the critical incident journal, in which the student in a college-level academic service learning program details experiences that change his perspective. The format requires students to describe their roles in the incidents, analyze their own and others' responses to it, and reflect on its impact on self and…

The most powerful and profound thoughts known to humankind are the result of freedom to write whatever it is that the soul must purge; whatever a person is thinking that troubles him or her; anything that hinders his or her ability to be in that particular moment of living. On the first day of class, one writing instructor tells her students that…

Presents a rationale for writing in social studies and sample writing activities. Suggests that writing actively involves students in learning, providing another mode for encoding information, and improving writing skills. Includes strategies for writing in social studies. Argues that social studies is an especially rich content area for…

As an elementary reading specialist, Lynn Mondello Caggiano, the author of this article, often worked with students who struggled with reading and other language tasks, including writing. After working with a group of students for whom written expression was particularly difficult, Caggiano came up with the plan of having the students draw their…

Insofar as students gain clarity by writing statements of belief and meaning, the expressive mode is a vehicle for learning. By expressing in writing their reaction to a bewildering experience, a current dilemma, or a troublesome conflict, for example, they are better able to broaden their views on this personal predicament. The expressive mode…

Suggests topics and assignments to elicit real, authentic, and expressive student writing. Such "real writing" tasks ask students to look inside themselves and to write genuine responses and about actual feelings and beliefs. (TM)

Research suggests that the informal language of journals is very important. Language scholars such as J. Vygotsky (1962), J. Moffell (1968, 1982), P. Elbow (1973, 1982), and M. Shaughnessy (1977) believe that human beings find meaning through exploration in their own talking language. To add to the evidence in this area, a study conducted in an…

Offers guidelines on using student journals and microthemes in writing across the curriculum programs, drawing from the experiences of faculty at Queensborough Community College. Includes sample assignments. (DMM)

The value of student dialog journals written to another student (unknown) rather than to the teacher is described. Thirteen practical tips for implementation are offered. It is noted that the technique is not suitable for all students, nor is it meant to be the only component in a writing program. (Contains 14 references.) (LB)

Using a writing journal with adult literacy students is an effective way to introduce them to writing while working with their reading, self-esteem, and confidence levels. One type of journal that combines the skills of reading and writing is the reader response journal. In these journal exercises, the students read a story or section of a story…

Student journals contribute to service-learning by focusing student attention on elements of community service and providing an opportunity for reflection. A project in which upper-class college students mentored children in an urban school system illustrates how journal entries help students document observations, question, speculate, develop…

Through journal writing children have the opportunity to explore learning, feelings, experiences and language. It is a very effective means of helping students develop writing skills through a process approach. Here is a framework for exploring the possibility of including a journal writing program in an elementary school curriculum: (1) consider…

Participants in an adult education grade 11 English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing class, all immigrants to Canada with varying cultural backgrounds, wrote journal entries in response to the theme "growing up different." The project involved individual writing, word processing, peer editing, computer graphics, audiotape recording of…