How do young children learn to write? What types of instruction best facilitate the composing processes of young learners and what role could educational drama play in these processes? In this article, the author argues that the current inquiry into developmental processes of children's writing has neglected to consider both the role and the value…

In this article, the author discusses children's art and writing and how they connect. Different ages and stages of art and writing are presented. The process of creating handmade books is another area where art and writing intersect. Since both are an important means of communication, books are an important way to combine art and writing, and to…

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of formulaic writing such as the five-paragraph theme (FPT) or essay for the purpose of earning high scores on high-stakes writing assessments. This qualitative descriptive study analyzed more than 1000 essays from Delaware Grade 8 and 10 writers, written for a statewide…

This completely updated edition of a marketing manual for writers ages 8 to 18 provides over 150 listings of markets and contests that accept submissions from young writers. The manual's listings discuss the kind of material the organization wants, the editor's or sponsor's remarks and suggestions, what a writer can expect in the way of pay,…

Grammar, historically, has been taught in a manner that leaves young learners wondering why they need to learn it. The problem has been partly that teachers have not been provided the insights needed to move the teaching of language conventions and grammar from the position of "textbook exercise" to that of "tools of the trade"…

This book is meant to be used with the 1997 publication "Challenge Standards for Student Success: Language Arts" by providing additional student work to illustrate grade level standards. The works are intended to provoke discussion among teachers about whether or not a student has met the language arts standards and about what kind of…

Teaching modeling, sharing, tutoring, and working with children on their writing has been explored in England's recent National Literacy Strategy publications. These guidelines, produced in collaboration with Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), suggest ways of analyzing children's writing to obtain more diagnostic information about…

Presents and considers the vision of children as receptors of adults' ideological messages. Reviews examples of adults' rewriting for children, drawing primarily on the rewriting of folk stories. Reconstructs, using ethnographic data from urban schools, one branch of a classroom chain of communication. Discusses the classroom conditions that…

Discusses student reaction to how fairy tales should begin and proceed and the language choices authors make when adapting fairy tales. Cites several different versions of "The Frog Prince" and describes them. Discusses students' own versions. Gives questions for stimulating student response to "The Frog Prince." (PA)

Discusses five conditions, based on research, that should be present if daily journal writing is to facilitate literacy development in kindergarten children: print rich environment; scheduling; teacher modeling; honeybee conferences; and sharing. (PA)

Presents ideas for tools useful for teaching writing in elementary school, such as carbon paper, stick-on flags, blank books, scissors, rulers, tape, stationery, postcards, card stands, clotheslines, and Polaroid cameras. Notes on materials dos and don'ts and special writing projects are included. (SM)

Presents five children's writing samples and makes suggestions for working with each writer. Stresses the importance of meeting children where they are (regardless of how they compare with their peers), since that is the only place from which they can start. (SR)

States that having students write poems while listening to a cassette tape of "Earth Spirit" by R. Carlos Nakai has been a remarkably successful exercise with students in grades 2-12. Discusses exercises in which the author reads three poems while the tape plays, and the students then write poems of their own. (PA)

Presents thoughtful writings by underprivileged seven- and eight-year olds, and analyzes how they were produced. Includes an introductory lesson and supporting strategies related to content and method. Provides a view of the placement of such a lesson in the context of cognitive psychology and philosophy of education. (DR)

Examines patterns in the responses of eight second- and third-grade students as they constructed meaning from fiction and nonfiction when asked to respond in writing to different instructional tasks. Suggests that both the task and the text influence children's responses. Demonstrates that young children are capable of providing rich written…