Combining freshman composition and introduction to literature courses can make students active participants in what they read. In one course, students were instructed to read a literary work for a class. When the class met, the students were to write the name of the assigned story, the author, and anything they wanted to write about the story.…

A study investigated the impact of task definition on students' revising strategies to determine whether college freshman writers could revise globally if instructed to do so and if those global revisions would result in improved texts. Data were elicited from 38 students enrolled in two entry-level college writing courses. Participants, randomly…

This booklet was prepared for use as a staff development presentation in response to an official statement by International Reading Association's "Executive Board that literature (and the reading and writing that goes with it) must be the foundation of the language arts curriculum. The purpose of the booklet is to provide alternatives to…

An argument can be made for an expansion in the creative writing curriculum to cover all genres. The essential principles of writing in all genres, poetry, fiction, drama, TV, and film can be taught, with the positive effect of saving a serious writing student years of stumbling in the dark. A responsible creative writing course of the present and…

A sequence of four central essays on the topic of "experts" illustrates how students can develop the critical tools necessary to handle the flood of information that exists in a complex, expert-dominated world. The first essay begins with communication of shared knowledge and examination of assumptions. Students are asked to share with…

Intended for college students and other writers, this book contains a detailed, step-by-step description of the writing process, from prewriting and brainstorming to polishing the mechanics of a final draft. The book is divided into five major sections. Part 1 is a broad introduction to the natural language attitude toward learning to write. Part…

The practicum was designed to increase the organizational skills of four emotionally handicapped students (aged 13-14) enrolled in a secondary school program, and to increase the quantity and quality of homework completed by those students in a regular English class. A needs survey documented that students, parents, and teachers felt that…

It does not take a computer expert to teach students how to use word processing software to prewrite, write, revise, and edit a professional-looking paper. Just a small amount of expertise allows students to work independently as long as they have access to a computer and the necessary software. The computer also facilitates interactive learning…

To help achieve success, students must construct purposes for reading so that they can gain the appropriate kind of information while reading. After a student has set a purpose for reading, she/he may preview the material to be read. The next step is to read the material at an appropriate speed considering the purpose for reading and the nature of…

Embedded in a sensitive instructional context rather than a stifling testing atmosphere, diagnostic lessons provide assessment that is reliable, practical, valid, and efficient. In this type of assessment, there are several determiners of instructional placement: (1) students' propensity to adapt strategies as a result of specified instruction,…

Questions raised by the misinterpretations evidenced in the final examination essays of a freshman English class should lead teachers to a new understanding of how the phrasing of writing assignments influences what students write. Some of the questions included: (1) How detailed must an assignment be to communicate its goals? (2) What type of…

The 1865 conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln also included plans to assassinate other government officials on that same April evening. The actor, John Wilkes Booth, succeeded in killing Lincoln, but his fellow conspirators bungled their attempts to kill William Seward, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, and possibly Edwin Stanton. In…

This teaching unit describes an elective reading course for high school students incorporating the goals and methods of writing across the curriculum. Students choose the books they want to read and read in class at least two days each week, and write a brief journal entry at the end of the class period. Students also have the option of writing a…

Elements that might be included in a course syllabus are discussed, and reasons for a well-written syllabus are briefly noted. The following syllabus elements are covered: course description, course objectives, course structure, textbook and required materials, recommended optional materials, course schedule, deadlines, evaluation methods, policy…

Young children learn many important things about language from the television and radio ads they encounter that can help them learn to read and write. They learn that print carries messages that are personally important to them, that whatever can be said can also be written, what some forms of written language look like, and that language use can…