In order for students to write like authors they need to read like writers. This requires direct instruction in attending to the writing craft through the use of quality adolescent literature and engagement in reading and writing. This article focuses on writing catchy introductions. The author offers the lesson objective and a teacher script…

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)

Traces the development of a project that consisted of first graders developing a book. (DF)

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…

This handbook, first published 50 years ago, is designed to teach individuals how to write more effectively. It offers step-by-step techniques and exercises to write simply, clearly, and correctly. New features in this edition of the handbook include contemporary examples, and guidelines for computer assisted research and writing and for…

To force students--at the very beginning of the writing process--to be aware of audience and to gain insight into their own writing, in-class writing and sharing exercises can be invaluable. For example, students can present to the class their subject for an upcoming paper, with the class responding on paper to such questions as: (1) What do you…

Designed to meet the fundamental state standards and reform agreed upon by educators, this book, with its unique approach to writing, offers teachers an essential resource to spark creativity and skillful writing in all students. Each chapter in the book begins with a question, giving students a hands-on opportunity to explore a specific writing…

Offers six prompts to use in teaching creative writing at the high school level. Explains how the prompts are used in the classroom. (MG)

Identifies three stages of developmental writing topics: simple personal topics that encourage fluency; topics that encourage students to use reading, writing, critical thinking, and dialog; and academic topics involving abstract concepts. Presents a reading/writing/critical thinking/dialog framework for writing assignments, whereby class…

Discusses three principles germane to the idea that writing is a response to its function, compares school writing with home writing, and suggests specific functions of writing that are frequently used in classrooms. (DF)

Advocates modeling as an appropriate approach to teaching composition, provided teachers select models carefully and present them as paradigms of dynamic processes and as hints leading to avenues of discovery. Uses N. Scott Momaday's "The Way to Rainy Mountain" to illustrate how such a model can be used to assist student invention. (RBW)

Describes a series of exercises the author developed to help college writers identify wordiness, reword, and revise carefully. Notes that these lessons build from simple recognition and repair to writing a 100-word piece. Concludes that many students choose this series of assignments as their favorite semester activity and one that influences how…

Discusses five writing exercises to improve teachers' and students' writing. Suggests using the exercises once a day. (RS)

Extending an earlier Donald Graves study by including students over seven years of age, this study identified relationships among the nature of writing tasks assigned by teachers and the written responses of elementary school students to those tasks. One class each at the third, fifth, and seventh grade levels provided eighteen sets of writing…

Recounts observations of a second grader's writing processes and concludes that students' enjoyment of writing should be cultivated. (DF)