This article presents a comprehensive model of daily, classroom informal writing assessment that is constantly linked to instruction and the characteristics of proficient writers. Methods for promoting teacher, student, and parent collaboration and their roles in dialoguing, conferencing, and reflection are discussed. Strategies for including…

Designed to tap the rich collection of instructional techniques in the ERIC database, this compilation of lesson plans focuses on helping elementary-school students to work together as they learn to read, write, and communicate. The 48 lesson plans in the book cover writing to communicate, reading for information, responding to literature,…

This study provides detailed descriptions, analyses, and interpretations of student interactions and participation that occurred in computer-mediated interactive writing activities in two different college classroom network situations. A freshman composition class focused on the teaching of writing through assigned exercises and incorporated…

The selection and use of instructional materials to develop technical writing skills in limited-English-proficient foreign students are discussed. Focus is on the influence of cultural differences in second language learning and the need for instructional materials that accommodate these differences. The first section examines American…

This book, appropriate for secondary students, includes brief biographies of 21 Native Americans of the 20th century. The biographies focus on childhood experiences, cultural heritage, and career goals. The book is divided into four units that feature Native Americans with successful careers in the fields of literature and drama; fine arts and…

This set of information sheets is intended to improve practice in special education through use of technology, media, and materials. The first information profile offers guidelines for using NCIP (National Center to Improve Practice) resources to effect change. Examples are given of how technology coordinators and others have used NCIP resources…

Public policy in France concerning the articulation of preschool education and primary education, particularly in the area of writing readiness and writing instruction, is discussed. A 1989 law expected to define, for the first time, the expected competencies at each educational level, was met with disappointment by early elementary school…

This guide, part of a series of workplace-developed materials for retraining factory workers, provides teaching materials for a workplace course in writing memos. The course covers recognizing the audience for a memo, identifying the topic, organizing the writing using four steps (think, write, review, correct) writing complete sentences, using…

This guide, part of a series of workplace-developed materials for retraining factory workers, provides teaching materials for a workplace course in writing accurate, sequential, and clear instructions. The course covers identifying the goal and purpose of the instructions, deciding the best method for presenting the instructions, using clear and…

A 3-year classroom study of learning styles among students of advanced English-as-a-Second-Language composition in Taiwan is reported. The study gathered data on 81 students' preferred learning styles and classroom tasks through closed-item and open-ended questionnaires, writing conference interviews, and student journals. Results indicate that…

A practicum was designed to increase the number of primary teachers who possess a more current reading and writing philosophy and would implement theory-driven teaching practices. The problem addressed in the practicum was that primary reading and writing instruction did not reflect current research, theory, and practices. Many classroom teachers…

Students' conversational skills, sense of importance, and penchant for creating drama can create thoughtful and even powerfully compelling prose but only if readers let it. Unfortunately, the ways that beginning writers express ideas do not always match all readers' expectations. What does this have to do with what teacher-researchers call voice?…

This book offers "teacher-friendly" lessons to plan flexible, interesting writer's workshop programs for students. The book gives short, self-contained lessons to boost writing skills and raise interest levels, whether they are used as a regular part of curriculum or plugged in as time allows. The book's 73 mini-lessons give the help…

A study investigated university students' perceptions of the performance of peer evaluation groups in English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) writing instruction, and of their own performance within the group. Subjects were 45 Chinese freshmen in their first semester in the Mass Communications Department at a Taipei university (Taiwan), with 6 years…

Human beings are in a constant ebb and flow; transcending boundaries at work and play, they learn, pray, and exist in an interdependent society. Given this reality, many practitioners, from kindergarten to college, have devised various methods of collaborative learning to meet the challenges of an increasingly diverse demographic and ethnographic…