Presents results of an informal study indicating that (1) external contingencies that force writing productivity regardless of mood seem to facilitate rather than impede the appearance of creative ideas for writing, and (2) productivity precedes creativity. (HTH)

Introduces Sustained Spontaneous Writing (SSW), a strategy which encourages young writers by providing a classroom environment that fosters writing habits and by having teachers model writing behaviors expected from students. Presents background information and practical suggestions for implementing SSW and ensuring its success in the daily…

Work of students identified as basic writers was studied and analyzed to determine students' perceptions about composition. Results suggest that progress is linked to the ability to develop and elaborate ideas while writing, to the ability to generate acceptable English automatically, and to the ability to rewrite, edit, and revise. (Author/LMO)

Demonstrates that a more useful investigation of the relations between process and product might explore how these models meet in theory and in practice, rather than where they separate. Shows how a less polarized view of process and product might enrich the classroom practice. (EL)

Stresses the importance of having teachers of writing participate in writing activities at inservice meetings. (DF)

Points out that revising one's writing on hard copy after using the word processor for composing (1) reduces both computer and writing anxiety, (2) provides greater opportunity for decentering, and (3) is more comfortable to revise on hard copy than to revise onscreen. (EL)

Describes a method used to teach freshman students how to make research a conscious part of their reading and writing processes, by helping them use their personal associations with a text and their questions about a text, to compose meaning and become conscious of the activities they are performing. (HTH)

Discusses a means of differentiating pedagogical materials on the basis of heuristics and theory. Discusses and evaluates three pedagogies that locate their heuristics in (1) form, (2) context, and (3) method, and suggests that materials combining pedagogies are the most adaptable. (FL)

Describes the growing autonomy of three young siblings as they wrote in the poetic function over a five-year period. Includes samples of the children's poetry. (HTH)

Describes the positive effects of peer interaction during the writing process. Illustrates by describing integration of this method in a seventh-grade classroom and how it improved the students' writing quality and attitudes. (HTH)

Examines how computers as a medium for communication affect the craft of writing, and subsequently affect teaching approaches. Discusses the need for teaching online document design and problem-solving processes as they relate to the communication process. (HTH)

Discusses the applicability of teaching rewriting and revision skills and using peer evaluation techniques in a technical writing class. (AEA)

Discusses criteria for choosing composition software. Poses six questions for further research in evaluating the effectiveness of computer assisted instruction in composition. (HTH)

There are many ways and options available for children to publish their work, other than just writing for their teachers. This research summary discusses the benefits of publishing students' writing and ways that students go public with their writing: the author's chair, publishing individual authors, classbooks, classroom and school newspapers,…

To write cohesively means doing many things at once--wrestling with ideas, balancing form and function, pushing words this way and that, attending to syntax and diction, and employing imagery and metaphor until a coherent message emerges. Though full of promise, student writing typically lacks cohesion, and the question is whether the fault lies…