Provides a brief introduction to recent research in spelling (on the nature of English orthography and the development of spelling ability), and suggestions for further reading. Describes a writing center spelling workshop of four sessions which aims to produce successful writers who have learned to cope with being poor spellers. (SR)

Argues that, through its style, scientific communication conveys a view of the world as the causal interaction of physical objects and events. Claims that, to teach students to write experimental reports, composition teachers must see and study matters of style and organization as parts of a world they cannot enter or influence without knowledge…

Discusses the process of revision and the teacher's role in helping students learn to revise their writing effectively. Lists five revision principles. (MG)

Presents a method of improving student term papers that employs an approach requiring students to co-author a paper with other students in a group. Describes the four key elements of successful cooperative learning. Provides details about how this approach can be carried out. (HB)

Describes a professional writer's successful one-month residency for reluctant junior-high writers. (SR)

Suggests alternative approaches to traditional feedback methods to help improve English-as-a-Second-Language writing skills. Interactive feedback styles such as minimal marking and taped commentary offer explicit information about teacher expectations and encourage students to reassess their work. (CB)

Describes two writing activities for primary grade students to complete at home with the help of their parents. (MG)

Offers a brief look at a graduate student's on-line correspondence with three sixth-grade pen pals. Offers advice about adult-student pen pal relationships. (SR)

Describes how one English teacher celebrated the power of students' personal writing to clarify and validate their own personal life experiences. Argues for the use of personal narrative in teaching students to develop as writers and thinkers. (HB)

Describes a sentence expansion technique found to be an effective and motivating way to teach sentence structure and vocabulary to elementary school students. (SR)

Demonstrates several different ways to visually display patterns of data. Discusses how the different graphics highlight different information in the data. (SR)

Investigates whether "high-impact" prose (written instructions) really has a high impact on reader behavior. Finds that subjects in the group who received high-impact instructions complied with those instructions at a significantly higher rate than the group which received instructions in the low-impact style. (SR)

Describes how a fourth-grade teacher uses a favorite picture book (Julius Lester's "John Henry") to lead students into reading like writers, thus giving them the opportunity to make the connection between published writing and their own. Shows how working with a brief passage from the book does this. Offers a brief list of books to be mentored by.…

Discusses techniques and lessons used to assist students in reading with a writer's eye, observing the world with a writer's eye, and developing the craft of writing, including the writer's notebook; grabber leads; show, not tell; unforgettable language; and voice. Notes that developing a community of writers is essential to the successful use of…

Presents a matrix for writing business memos and describes how it helps students organize memos that are logically complete, internally consistent, and coherent. (SR)