Explores the possibility of improving students' reading skills while increasing their information about world events through assignments in current prominent periodicals. (MD)

Descriptions of the activities in various sections of an experimental course in freshman English during the fall semester of 1967. (RD)

Includes facsimiles of paragraphs written by students in grades 1-6. (RD)

Traces the rising importance of the static abstractions Coherence, Unity, and Emphasis as prescriptive tools in teaching composition from the mid-1800s to the 1920s. Suggests that these terms have since decreased in popularity as organizing principles for composition texts because they fail to show students how to write effectively. (MM)

Parents can help their children become better writers by reinforcing the importance of writing and by giving children plenty of opportunities to write. Twenty-three specific suggestions for improving children's writing at home are listed. (PP)

Based on the responses of 50 ESL instructors to a composition-scoring exercise, a detailed method of scoring compositions was developed that divides the writing into basic components (structure, content, vocabulary, organization, and mechanics) and provides a scoring mechanism for each component for each of three competency levels. (MSE)

Existing and potential applications of the computer to writing instruction are outlined, including choosing and developing a subject, text analysis, simulation, and motivation. Some concerns about computer use in writing instruction are also discussed. (MSE)

A study shows that advanced ESL students explore and clarify ideas and attend to language-related concerns primarily after their ideas have been delineated. These results call into question the prescriptive approach to writing instruction that is overly concerned with correctness. (MSE)

Discusses computer programs which encourage thinking. The programs, called "artificial intuition," ask questions based on three systems of inquiry, in particular, the heuristics of Aristotle's topics, Kenneth Burke's dramatistic pentad, and the tagmemic matrix. Also discusses research related to these programs and provides examples of…

Four ways teachers can prepare for the upcoming school year are outlined: (1) organizing "teacher-idea" clippings; (2) planning for minicourses; (3) a project for cleaning up the community; and (4) setting up a classroom interest center. (JMK)

Writing represents the writer's dialog, first, with himself, and later, with the reader. Both processes take part in the communication and influence its shape and content. The successful writer persuades by making present those things which are not in the immediate environment and by balancing the conflicting demands of stability and flexibility.…