A lesson in writing stresses that pupils can choose what to write about in a nature setting. Answers to numerous questions arising when involving pupils in writing can be found in this activity, including: (1) how to motivate learners to write; (2) whether to teach specific writing skills as they write; (3) what guidance and assistance to offer on…

Conventional grading is so ubiquitous that it is tempting to see it as inevitable and to feel hopeless about making any changes. It is often not reliable nor does it have clear meaning. Also, it does not give students feedback about what they did well or badly. Even while operating under a conventional grading system, composition teachers can use…

Many instructors are planning to teach their writing classes in the networked computer classroom. Through the use of electronic mail, course listservs, and chat programs, the instructor is offered the opportunity to facilitate a more egalitarian classroom discourse that creates a strong sense of community, not only between students, but also…

Using Ariadne's thread in the narrative of the labyrinth as a metaphor for the elusiveness of language, this paper explores the concept of "self" to prepare for the discussion of autobiography as a "tool" for teaching writing, and to create a connection between a politically enabled self, a private self, and critical theory.…

This annual serial volume contains 19 articles offering practical pedagogical ideas from faculty at New Hampshire technical colleges. The following articles are presented: (1) "Goodbye Mr. Desrochers or What I Learned While Teaching My First Lit. Course," by Diane Chin; (2) "A Teacher Learns: Building a Fly Rod," by Walter…

An oral activity designed to help prepare college students of English as a second language for assignments and rhetorical strategies for essay writing is described. The activity, which comprises several tasks and can require up to two class periods, requires students to compare and contrast a painting and a poem that have a common theme or aspect.…

This paper describes a study that evaluated a program in which students' reading and writing skills improved with the enhancement of various interventions related to reading and writing. The targeted population consisted of elementary students enrolled in first and third grades in northern Illinois. The lack of reading and writing success was…

This paper discusses expressive writing, which can be defined as writing in a conversational and personal way. The paper explains that, in this expressive mode, writers are allowed the freedom to mull over ideas and to highlight certain ideas, even as they write, making it a vehicle for learning. The paper presents discussion on the time (i.e.,…

An approach to teaching expository writing in English as a Second Language (ESL) to native speakers of Chinese is offered. It is based on a comparison and classification of rhetorical patterns in the two languages. Chinese rhetoric contains a wide variety of methods of presentation, including both direct and indirect, or metaphoric, forms. It is…

A University of Wyoming program designed to help faculty work on writing skills with students, primarily graduate students, for whom English is a second language (ESL) is described. The workshop was developed in response to increasing requests for writing center help with ESL graduate students. The report describes several different early…

Designed to provide teachers with ideas and resources that make it possible to nourish and build upon the skills of young writers, this guide deals with effective writing instruction within the elementary school and using the writing process with primary children. The guide addresses issues related to, and provides suggestions for, the teaching of…

This 44-item bibliography presents annotations of video resources for the teaching of literacy that feature instructors who effectively put theory into practice--videos that portray literacy teachers and learners in action. To preserve the aesthetic integrity of individual videos produced as part of a series, individual videos are not classified…

A longitudinal study focused on a weekly writing workshop for a group of active older adults ranging in age from 67-91. The core group consisted of 14 elders. The research that explored elders' literacy confirmed the importance of its social nature and its grounding in specific cultural and historical contexts; varying perceptions and uses of…

Delineating the content that must be covered in the secondary schools of the State of Idaho, this guide presents a course of study in journalistic English and literature, an integrated course which incorporates literature, composition, and language applied to modern communication skills. Although educators sometimes use the terms interchangeably,…

This final report describes an effective, computer-based method of communicating new syntactic knowledge to students with deafness. "Choosing AVMs," the first intervention developed on the Macintosh computer, used advanced visual markers (AVMs) (icons) to communicate the essence of the syntactical structure to be taught by: (1) capturing…