An action research project set out to increase students' writing fluency and investigate whether writing fluency varies as a function of writing prompts and directions given to students. Subjects were 62 students in a first-grade class, a second-grade class, and a fifth/sixth-grade Special Day class (all in this class are learning disabled) in a…

A study examined the effect of computer-assested instruction on fourth graders' writing skills. Two fourth grade classes from one elementary school in New Jersey participated in the study. One class (the experimental sample) was taught to use the computer as a writing tool, while the other class (the control sample) used only pencil and paper.…

Educators continue to seek ways to foster writing that produces rich language usage by students. Journal writing in the classroom allows students to express ideas in written form. Two types of journal writing often used by educators include topical journal writing and free choice journal writing. The desire to excel in the area of writing prompted…

This report describes a program for advancing written expression skills in the primary grades. Extensive research over the past years has shown that an emphasis on mechanics and conventions inhibits the process of writing in primary students. The targeted population consisted of first and second grade students in a middle class community, located…

The data gathered for this study does not support the hypothesis that second grade students, when they write, do not borrow characters, settings, elements of a story, authors' styles and information from nonfictional literature. Students writings were studied to determine the extent of the borrowing, and to answer the questions: (1) Did the…

A study describes a program for improving the quality and variety of students' writing. The targeted population consisted of elementary and special education high school students in suburban communities north of Chicago, Illinois. The problems were documented through the collection of writing samples, teacher observation, student self-evaluation,…

A study investigated whether there would be any significant difference in test scores between students instructed in the use of graphic organizers during their creative writings and those students not instructed in their use. Graphic organizers can help writers keep to the topic by having their ideas in front of them as they are writing. They also…

An action research project developed a program for improving writing skills. The targeted population consisted of second through fifth grade students in two districts in growing middle to upper class communities, located in suburbs southwest of Chicago. The need for improving writing skills was evidenced by classroom teacher observations,…

A study explored the connection between reading and writing by examining the writing produced by three young readers of action comic books. The subjects were in grades four and five in a British Columbia (Canada) school and were identified by a survey as being avid comic book readers. During three writing sessions, they were asked to produce…

To gain insight into the evaluation of college freshman compositions, a study explored the relationship between the personality type of the instructor and the grades assigned to essays written by freshman composition students. The sample comprised 23 college instructors who answered a short questionnaire, graded the same expository essay, and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the quantity of words written by an intermediate elementary student when paper and pencil are used and compare it with the quantity of words written with a computer. One fifth-grade magnet homeroom consisting of 16 students was involved in this study. The participants were randomly placed into two groups.…

Researchers believe that writing, and the writing process, are integral parts of any grade level curriculum. Since Writer's Workshop is an essential part of this process, an examination of the effects of first graders' participation in Writer's Workshop was studied to determine whether or not this enabled them to become more confident writers, and…

A study examined the effectiveness of incorporating writing as a tool to master the concepts of physics. Subjects were students in the three traditional physics classes and one non-math or conceptual physics class at East High School in Rockford, Illinois. The instructor tried a variety of methods--students wrote criticisms of Carl Sagan videos,…

The data gathered for this study supported the hypothesis that first grade students can revise and edit original writing projects without experiencing any significant loss in motivation. This hypothesis was confirmed after the students had finished writing and revising three original stories while utilizing three separate revision strategies. The…

A teacher, after learning about emergent writing in an inservice teacher education course and noticing various levels of writing in her 16 kindergarten and first-grade children, decided to involve the parents of her students in a similar learning process. A 4-week project involving dialogue journals ensued. Written questioning techniques developed…