Describes a unit taught in two middle school English classes, in which students wrote and illustrated their own adventure/journey folktales. (SR)

Describes a seven-week critical-inquiry unit in a writing course for college sophomores that studies the 1953 Rosenberg trial. Uses this unit to illustrate the importance of dissonance in learning development, and how rhetorical inquiry in Kenneth Burke's concept of "perspective by incongruity" leads to critical inquiry and deeper…

Reports on a survey administered to faculty at the University of Minnesota regarding the reading and writing assignments and pedagogy employed in courses. States that results were used to make changes in the content of the developmental curriculum and strategies used to teach courses. Contains 11 references. (VWC)

Offers an account of three "waves" of writing assessment: objective tests, holistic scoring, and portfolios. Scrutinizes these modes of assessment for how they can serve needs beyond the institutional demands of sorting and selecting students, to discover what they can tell educators about writing, teaching, and courses and programs. (SR)

Discusses points that educators should consider when using the technology of networked writing environments. Stresses the need to understand how technology functions and intervenes for pedagogical processes. Contains 57 references. (DDR)

Discusses results of one-year research project in South London nursery class that included 3- and 4-year- olds from variety of linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Given the opportunity to use wide range of literacy materials--in English and other languages--as part of social interaction and through own writing, these children displayed knowledge…

Describes how using conferencing software in a computer-assisted writing environment became a catalyst for a distinctive learning ecology that interrelated prosocial student behaviors, learner-centered teaching, and assessment. Argues that the conferencing class not only helped students apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills in…

Sixth-grade class members met Washington state writing standards by creating their own newspaper and using rubrics to remind themselves of the requirements each article had to meet. Student activities were also linked to the Foxfire core practices. Student comments are included, demonstrating their development as independent, self-directed…

This article reviews research on the use of computer technologies to help individuals with mild educational disabilities write more effectively, including word processing and the use of word processing in teaching revision and facilitating collaboration, transcription tools, and the limited research on hypermedia or multimedia to support writing.…

A yearlong study investigated the effects of whole language-based instruction on the writing development of eight Spanish-speaking and eight English-speaking kindergarten children. The writing skills of the Spanish-speaking children developed similarly to those of the English-speaking children, refuting rationales used to place Spanish-speaking…

Two studies compared the process of authoring non-linear or linear stories with HyperCard by inner-city primary school students. Found that, with minimal support, primary school students were capable of constructing hypermedia stories with complex non-linear structures and that the use of non-linear structures appeared to encourage the integration…

A study involving three children who are deaf (grades 7-8) investigated the ways in which American Sign Language (ASL) and English-based sign allow for comprehension of text content. Retelling, proposition, and feature analysis scores indicate students understood the fable texts whether they were presented in ASL or English-based sign. (Contains…

Describes the author's experiences teaching composition to inmates at a women's minimum security prison. Describes how these students wrote with alacrity and passion, using writing as a tool to solve problems and enlighten. Discusses how mandated curriculum and assignment requirements were met, revisions made and issues of dialect discussed, while…

Argues that lexical, syntactic, organizational, and material aspects of writing construct identity just as much as the phonetic and prosodic aspects of speech do. Illustrates this with writing samples of graduate students studying in British universities. Recommends second language writing pedagogy that raises critical awareness about voice.…

Students in a creative writing class at McLean High School (Virginia) were asked to write an original piece of spy fiction. A four-way collaboration model, which utilized the strengths and expertise of a teacher, library media specialist, business partner (the technology division of the CIA), and vendor, provided students with unusual learning…