Investigates how writers plan to produce discourse for different purposes--to report, to generalize, to persuade--as well as how writers plan for sentence level units of language. To learn about planning, an observational measure of pause time was used. (HOD)

Describes a writing assignment that has been used with high school students, college freshmen, and graduate students to help them more adequately understand their own composing processes. Argues that heuristic methods are extremely powerful teaching tools and that teachers should learn the theory on which they are based. (TJ)

The question arises as to whether large "primary pencils" and paper with wide ruling truly compensate for a young child's lack of muscular coordination or whether these tools simply interfere with previously established writing patterns using familiar tools. (JN)

A child is studied from the age of four, at which time there was no clear distinction between writer and audience, up to the age of eight, at which time he wrote a story demonstrating conclusively that he could stand apart from an egocentric view of the world. (JN)

The use of student peers in editing the writing of fellow students has become a popular tool for teachers. Students learn from the feedback given them by other students and develop a discriminatory eye when rereading their own papers. Samples of tasks are given to aid the teacher. (JN)

Compares the progression of writing skills of two girls from first through third grades, showing development of style, persona, spelling, and grammar. Discusses the implications for the teaching of writing on an individual and classroom basis. (HTH)

Reports on five case studies of adult unskilled writers, revealing these writers' strengths and weaknesses. (RL)

Proposes reconceiving rhetoric as something like travel. Develops terms that describe the act of discursive exchange in ways that avoid the theoretical and ethical problems of rhetorical territoriality. Explores the possibility of locating the kinds of collectives that are formed by interacting writers and readers in a concept of expansive space…

In a collaboration between a nutrition department and a university writing center, students practiced developing articles and research papers and were guided through the writing process; 25 of 44 students had their manuscripts published in diverse newsletters. (SK)

Looks at how writing instruction has progressed 25 years after Janet Emig and other scholars investigated the composing process of writing students and put forth the notion of process writing. Presents three teacher profiles that demonstrate the wide variety of classroom practice in writing instruction now in use. (TB)

Explores (from the point of view of the writer, a children's author) one aspect of learning about language that is present in the picture books he writes: the relation between sound and sense. (SR)

Describes the author' spelling program for her second-grade classroom, a program grounded in the writing process, especially developing strategies for writing, learning, and proofreading words. Lists elements of a print-rich environment and lists spelling strategies. (SR)

Uses the example of a lesson on double consonants for second graders to illustrate a focused yet open-ended informal assessment that can be used for many lessons on spelling. (SR)

Describes observing and working with Emily, a third grader who was a proficient reader but whose knowledge in reading did not seem to transfer to spelling. Finds that Emily's spelling improved over the school year as she internalized spelling strategies and proofreading practices. Notes that her confidence improved and that she was able to explain…

Describes a series of exercises the author developed to help college writers identify wordiness, reword, and revise carefully. Notes that these lessons build from simple recognition and repair to writing a 100-word piece. Concludes that many students choose this series of assignments as their favorite semester activity and one that influences how…