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…

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)

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 series of exercises aimed at helping students generate lines and ideas for their poetry. (MM)

Claims that self-evaluation instruments strengthen students' ability to evaluate their own writing and improve writing instruction. Argues that self-evaluation exercises should (1) help students evaluate their writing, (2) demystify teachers' grades, (3) encourage students' awareness as writers, (4) require written responses from student, and (5)…

Suggests using poetry's short short forms for a methodical and rapid series of writing assignments that emphasize both careful writing at the sentence level and overall planning and respect for form. (HTH)

Outlines a procedure to help students revise their writing. (JL)

Advocates using the case approach in college writing classes. Suggests that asking students to play the roles of participants in a situation, whether real or imaginary, helps them learn to address a particular audience with a clear purpose. Offers a case approach with discussion questions and possible assignments. (RL)

This book describes "Writing Pictures," a daily developmental writing exercise in which students visualize a moment in their life of their own choosing, sketch it quickly, and write four guided sentences in paragraph format about it. Beginning with level one, it takes students through the basic format, and, with time, students progress upward…

Recommends ways teachers can help students write better research papers. (JL)

Describes a teaching unit designed to help students discover the interaction of writer, subject, and audience. Reviews the major types of writing used in the unit and the various audiences for whom the students wrote. (FL)

Describes a "directed writing activity" that teachers can use in developing writing sessions that consistently produce good results. Outlines six steps in the writing activity: prewriting, framing the writing assignment, writing the assignment, revising the draft, editing, and writing the final draft. (AEA)

Contends that using writing in mathematics will not only make mathematics students better writers, but will also make them better mathematics students. Offers several writing activities for a mathematics class. (MS)

A group of four brief papers provides ideas for teachers of writing and reading. "Writing to Learn" (Osvaldo Grijalva) focuses on writing as a process emphasizing experience and participation, and compares the traditional approach to writing instruction with a learning-process-oriented approach. "Teachers' Corner" (Rogelio Chavira) lists possible…

Intended for teachers, students, and for anyone who is dissatisfied with his or her understanding of writing, this book is focused on practical exercises and experiments. The first section of the book, "What Writing Is," consists of two chapters of primary interest to teachers, and provides a general orientation to the document's approach. The…