This dissertation contributes to the growing body of scholarship in rhetoric and composition responding to calls for explicitly anti-racist teaching and research practices. Titular examples of the field's widespread commitment to this work include official "Position Statements" by our flagship professional organizations, like the…

Suggests that exploring the topic of boredom in the writing class offers an opportunity to help students become more self-conscious about aspects of their writing. Describes the process of investigation of "boredom," partly as a model and partly to indicate what was discovered. Discusses what students and professionals say about the…

Intended for junior high and high school writing instructors, this booklet provides prewriting activities designed to help students master the thinking strategies essential to effective written communication. The first portion of the booklet discusses theory and research on the role of thinking strategies in writing and gives an overview of the…

This collection presents 15 articles on writing, three of them new and 12 of them representing the best of the 500 articles published since 1974 in "SET: Research Information for Teachers," a twice-yearly publication by the New Zealand and Australian Councils for Educational Research aimed at teachers, students, board members, and…

Reports the highlights of the first year of the National Study of Secondary School Writing, which provides new information about secondary school writing instruction. (RL)

Compares the effects of drama and discussion as planning activities for narrative writing in the second and third grades. Finds that writing quality of the group that used drama activities (developing individual ideas for stories through paired improvisations and role plays) was significantly higher than that of the control group. (SR)

Provides a single lens view of the operation of the complex phenomenon of intertextuality (interpreting one text by means of a previously composed text) in one first grade classroom from one perspective. Finds that young children's writing is influenced in a complex way by texts that have been read to them. (RS)

Assesses the capabilities and limitations of a collaborative writing software program used in a French foreign language writing course. Discusses the value of collaborative writing in foreign language writing; provides an introduction to collaborative writing software; and offers practical classroom activities. (SR)

This annotated bibliography contains 28 references on the ways writing can be used in the study of literature and ways in which literature can be utilized to foster invention in students' writing. The bibliography contains citations from the period between 1982 to 1989 and is divided into three sections. The first section includes strategies,…

This paper presents practical classroom activities for teaching narrative/descriptive writing based on approaches to writing instruction that research indicates are powerfully effective, and discusses principles upon which effective and exciting instruction can be designed. The paper gives a brief overview of what research in the teaching of…

Describes how a high school English teacher set up a project to help students who made frequent conventional errors become more aware of them, choose goals based on their own writing weaknesses, collect data, work toward improvement, and assess their success. Argues that, while not all students are reached, the climate of the classroom is…

To show how whole language theory can be put into practice, this collection of articles, many written by practicing teachers, suggest ways that teachers can help students become active participants in their own learning. Following an introduction, chapters and their authors consist of: (1) "Insights from Recent Reading and Writing Research…

Produced as part of a collaborative research project in which classroom teachers teamed with university-based research assistants to explore questions raised by the teachers in the course of their work with students, this monograph deals with the issue of "occasion." Following a review of theory and research about aspects of occasion…

This annotated bibliography describes research on the characteristics of apprehensive writers and on methodology which has been found useful in reducing anxiety and increasing writing achievement. Following an introduction, 27 annotations (dating from 1976 to 1990) are presented. A summary, conclusions, and recommendations follow. A 33-item…

Intended for teachers of kindergarten through grade 8 who want to improve their students' writing skills, this book is based on existing research findings to serve as a practical guide to procedures, methods, and skills essential for the development of proficiency in written expression of all kinds. The book includes practical, research-based…