Designed to tap the rich collection of instructional techniques in the ERIC database, this compilation of lesson plans offers practical suggestions for developing high school students' writing skills. The 37 lesson plans in this book are divided into four sections: (1) descriptive; (2) audience/voice; (3) expository; and (4) creative. A user's…

This teaching model, involving character analysis in literature, illustrates effective instruction that engages students in an interpretive problem, helps them make complex interpretations, and enables them to transform their conclusions into effective literary analysis. The introductory activity in the model is a discussion of a student…

This student magazine created by the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classes of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) is a collection of personal opinions, reports, and creative writing with illustrations. Each item was written as a voluntary collaboration, homework, or classwork. Items include poems, letters, accounts of…

An analysis of journal articles from physics and molecular biology carried out with the help of six specialists in those disciplines reveals that scientists read journal articles by searching for the most newsworthy information, a behavior similar to that of newspaper readers. For this reason the scientific journal article is gradually taking on…

Overviews of the process of historical research and the writing of a successful historical essay or dissertation are presented. Historical research is defined as the systematic process of collecting and objectively evaluating data related to past occurrences to arrive at conclusions about the causes, effects, or trends of past events that may be…

This package is intended to assist tutors who are working to improve their adult students' writing skills. It is divided into three parts. The first part, which focuses on the process of writing, includes 13 units in which tutors can explore writing work, either with small groups or individual students. The units, each of which includes…

A study investigating the effects of "text linguists'" revisions on the comprehensibility of expository prose had as subjects 92 high school juniors who read original and revised versions of two passages from a high school history textbook. The revisions included changes regarding the given-new contract, schemata, reference, lexical…

A technique for teaching writing in academic English as a second language (ESL) to students bound for college-level courses focuses on one essential reading and writing skill: using multiple sources as input for writing. The program is designed for any level and consists of a series of readings and a number of questions, the answers to which…

Students in New Zealand and several other countries were tested in writing skills near the end of their formal (secondary) education, as part of the International Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) tests. Among the categories tested were functional letter writing and narrative, persuasive, and reflective essay writing. New Zealand student…

A collection of 50 essays from successful applications to various U.S. colleges is presented along with comments from admissions officers. It is noted that "right" and "wrong" essays do not exist, and with a little creativity and effort, almost any topic can make for an effective and memorable college application essay. Every…

To examine the relationship between writers' knowledge of expository frames--conventions accepted by both writers and readers in association with a particular type of discourse--and writing skill, 60 persuasive essays were analyzed for content organization. The essays, evaluated as either above average or average on a high school writing…

Each written by a classroom teacher and based on the experience of that teacher working with his or her students, the articles in this collection are an extension of the Bay Area Writing Project assumptions. Many contain samples of writing done by students in response to the writing tasks described. After a preamble that discusses what is already…

Intended for writing teachers, from middle-elementary level through college, this booklet describes a teaching method that lets students write their own way into ideas, merging personal experience with intellectual thought in expository writing. The booklet first describes in greater detail the concept of writing to think as focused free…

Reflecting the concerns of researchers and practitioners about children's text comprehension, this book defines and provides examples of narrative and expository text and describes research-based strategies for helping children comprehend these two types of text. The book contains the following chapters: (1) "Research on Stories: Implications…

A workshop was developed at the Bank of Canada to give instruction in writing brief summaries of financial analyses to junior economists entering the bank after university. These employees were expected to write these analyses for the senior officers of the institution. It had been found that the specialists had not learned strategies for…