Describes writing a novel about the "expectancy-loss" burden of a special needs student and the "teratophobia" of ordinary people. Discusses examples in literature, such as Charles Dickens's character Tiny Tim. Explores special needs student's way of awkwardly examining his life, as well as the trials of an author trying to…

Discusses computers and related technologies as a significant means for acquiring language arts skills. Samples a wide array of uses for educational computing in English and language arts classes. (SR)

Offers arguments for and against making the essay central to the English and writing curriculum. Argues for the inclusion of the essay and discusses personal experiences and feelings regarding essay writing. (PRA)

Investigates the writing experience of 40 eleventh graders and examines the social and pedagogical circumstances contributing to their limited concentration and motivation. Finds that emotion disrupts sustained and thoughtful attention to writing. Demonstrates the psychological toll of limited concentration, negative self-view, and limited…

Examines comprehension and summary writing skills of fifth-grade Chamorro students in Guam who received instruction in the Guided Reading Procedure with an added summarizing step. Suggests that additional teacher instruction is needed to improve student understanding of the content area material. (NH)

Describes a learning environment that enhances student achievement in written communication as one that develops and maintains student interest; enables students to perceive a purpose for and attach meaning to their writing; and provides precise objectives for students to attain. (NH)

Examines the student and professional discourse within the same field through a set of case studies written for a third-year course in financial analysis. Reports on the distinct social actions undertaken by student writers as compared with professional practices. Shows commonalities of student and workplace writing. (HB)

Describes the techniques developed by one instructor for helping students improve their writing, especially creative writing. Outlines how three central writing prompts can be used to inspire student writing and revision. Develops a computer metaphor as a helpful means by which students can access their own "screens." (HB)

Presents six teachers' responses to the "Private Eye" workshop (which encourages thinking by analogy and incorporating writing in many forms into content area teaching). Notes that the workshop was described in two articles in the November/December 1993 issue of this journal. Notes the energy that flows out of the teachers' writing about…

Novelist Denise Giardina discusses growing up in a small West Virginia coal mining town, educational experiences, her career as writer, the manner in which she creates and develops characters in novels, the influence of other Appalachian writers on her career, and the political content of her writing. (LP)

Studies the writing processes of noncomposition students, particularly the patterns of feedback and revision in four writing-across-the-curriculum courses. Analyzes the first and final drafts of 20 students. Highlights several issues for further research. (HB)

Notes that creating focus which leads to formulating a thesis is a task with which many writers have trouble. Describes a process model of conceptual development that helps students gain confidence in abstracting, conceptualizing, and formulating a thesis. (NH)

Reviews videotapes of three professional writers composing several essays from start to finish, both by hand and by computer. Discusses similarities and differences among the completed essays. Finds that writing appears to be governed by deep cognitive models that are little influenced by the mode of text production or by the writer's preference…

Follows six non-native-speaker college students through an authentic essay-writing task. Finds that note-taking behaviors facilitated learning from text, but that depth of processing and the students' self-positioning in the discourse community were more important than their were overt behaviors. Concludes that students' notes were useful as a…

Outlines several reasons why teachers who write become better teachers. Discusses 13 steps in the process of becoming a writer. (SR)