Describes a fifth-grade teacher's year-long unit of study on memoir. Addresses getting started, mini-lessons, drafting, and embellishment and voice. Notes that even reluctant writers became involved in writing memoirs and that the teacher followed her own advice and began writing a memoir about her grandmother. Appends a rubric for evaluating…

States that previous research shows links between children's reading comprehension and various writing skills but little is known about reading-writing relationships in adult students. Investigates such relationships in health-care workers attending an adult literacy program. Finds that writing of poorer readers showed significantly lower level of…

States that theories of intellectual development offer writing teachers productive ways to analyze student writing; help students develop strategies for improving their writing processes; and consider the implications of writing assignments. Finds that frameworks posited by Jean Piaget and by others contribute useful ways of understanding why…

Notes that emphasis on the writing process has produced books on the subject of students as authors. Discusses several recent books with that theme. Suggests that teachers can encourage kids to become writers by finding books that will "knock their socks off" instead of books that promote propaganda about writing as a process. Provides…

Explains that political science instructors should assign several short writing assignments that are different but related. Discusses the importance of clear guidelines. Addresses responding to writing assignments, discussing the three-part evaluation process, evaluating writing as a process, being aware of student reactions, and providing helpful…

Reports the results of a study for which 25 parents were asked questions about what they believed would constitute the ideal English curriculum. Offers suggestions for how teachers can enhance their relationships with parents and educate them about modern approaches to teaching literature and writing. (TB)

This article offers guidelines to help young children who are deaf move through six developmental stages of learning to write: (1) observing writing; (2) scribbling and drawing; (3) communicating writing to others; (4) requesting assistance in writing; (5) copying writing; and (6) beginning to write independently. (DB)

Explores issues of access, gender, and collaboration as they relate to a middle-school class and its magazine project that developed the school's first online literary and art magazine. Presents one way that writing for online publication fits within a language-arts curriculum. Addresses ways collaboration between a university teacher, a…

Examined process approaches to writing in fifth-grade classrooms led by teachers using procedural or workshop approaches. Found all teachers engaged students in the recursive steps of process writing, but there was significant variability in other aspects. Epistemological beliefs about teaching and learning were highly predictive of the type of…

Provides a detailed description of a way to encourage students to write for a purpose and to actively engage in the evaluation of their product. (Author/VWL)

Draws on a longitudinal study of urban adolescents' literacy practices. Argues for a focus on students' writing practices both in and out of school to develop a comprehensive understanding of their capacities in the classroom. Suggests the importance of looking outside the physical space of schools and beyond the time that students are in…

Presents a conversation with Sue Ellen Bridgers about her writing processes, novels, publishing decisions, and a recent and successful foray, with her son Sean, into screen writing and filmmaking. Discusses her uncertainties about teaching college courses in creative writing and young adult literature. Discusses her concern that young women…

Organization and word processing software programs empower students with disabilities to become more independent in their writing. In this article, the authors describe techniques for incorporating organizational programs and word processing features into the writing process. Beneficial features include word prediction, voice output, spell…

Throughout their undergraduate and graduate careers, students are assigned various types of papers that require scientific writing style. The scope of these assignments include laboratory reports that require only graphing and statements of findings; abstract assignments with critical summaries included; abbreviated research papers, including…

Two experiments were performed regarding the effect of conscious control on handwriting fluency in healthy adults and ADHD children. First, 26 healthy students were asked to write a sentence under different conditions. The results indicate that automated handwriting movements are independent from visual feedback. Second, the writing performance of…