This study investigated the participation of children at the writing center in their classroom during free choice time. For this study, four and five year-old children in the classroom were observed during 20 free choice times, each one of which was one hour. I developed a coding system related to the activities that were intended to develop the…

"Blogging for the sake of blogging is fine, but what is the value added?" That's a question educational blogging advocates are now coming around to answer, and the value they're finding may seem preposterous to those who associate blogging with barely literate loudmouths and cyber predators. Can this often belligerent wasteland of poor…

Presents seven writing exercises designed to (1) convince students they have something to say, (2) produce work that students enjoy writing, (3) demonstrate that good writing does not have to be dull, and (4) help acquaint students with their own ability to use various personnae. (FL)

Describes five prewriting activities for courses that emphasize writing and deemphasize discussion of literature. The activities focus on organization and theme statement so that students think about every possible subject, theme, and approach. (HTH)

Suggestions are given for assignments designed to improve general writing skills in conjunction with traditional physical education activities. (LH)

Presents eight short writing activities that do not involve grading papers or using the entire class period. The activities are intended to help students summarize lessons, increase comprehension and memory, organize facts and ideas, identify examination topics, and practice general writing skills. (GEA)

This article focuses on using writing activities in adult basic education/General Educational Development level classes to increase students' self-confidence, enjoyment of writing, and opportunities for group instruction. Suggestions are made for early writing experiences as well as later activities. The writing activities most enjoyed by other…

Helping first graders develop writing skills is the focus of this paper. The first part of the paper discusses 11 ideas likely to be crucial to any first grade writing program, such as the similarities between learning to talk and writing, and the teacher as the model writer. The second part of the paper outlines creative writing activities…

The writing activities in this book are designed to help children build writing skills through the communication of their own ideas, discoveries, and feelings. Developed and field tested as part of a basic skill development project, the book presents a rationale for primary children's writing, outlines the fundamentals of teaching writing, and…

This paper proposes using dramatic situations for prewriting and writing assignments. Dramatic situations are defined as the process by which students, working in pairs, argue or discuss on paper in dialogue form a human question or problem. A sequence of exercises in several stages is outlined. First, students are divided into pairs and pass a…

Ungraded writing is a way of increasing the amount of writing by geography students without unduly burdening the teacher. Two examples of ungraded writing assignments are described: in-class writing and periodic writing in a private journal. (RM)

Describes the procedure, rationale, and results of a writing project, called Buddy Writing, in which all kindergarten through eighth grade students participated. (MG)

This handbook is intended to provide teachers with background information about the writing skills needed by General Educational Development (GED) students as well as practical instructional activities for use in the adult basic education/GED classroom. A guide to using the ideabook explains the POWER format that involves Prewriting, Organizing,…

"Scratch,""Scribe," and "Scribble" are three strategies for teaching writing at any grade level. They are short, ongoing activities that do not require grading. "Scratch" concerns spelling, "Scribe" dictation, and "Scribble" the writing process. (SJL)

Presents an assignment in which students are instructed to produce a complete, accurate, and readable collection of rules and sentences that illustrates the multiple uses of each mark of punctuation, in other words, to write their own workbooks. (EL)