Presents an interview with Chris Crutcher, the 2000 recipient of the Margaret A. Early Award. Notes that he was given the award for his contributions to writing for teenagers. Talks about his life and origins as a writer, and his early influences as a writer in terms of style. Discusses the use of Crutcher's literature in the classroom. (SG)

Examines the use of music as a springboard for writing. Provides an explanation of how basic writing students can use music-writing activities to discover meaningful topics and ideas, to develop specific supporting details, and to understand the connections between purpose and audience. (RS)

Presents an interview with Peter Catalanotto, writer and illustrator of children's books. Discusses Catalanotto's process in writing and illustrating books, and Richard Jackson's influence on his work. Reflects on the role that libraries and books have played in his life and how those experiences have influenced his thinking in creating the cover…

Reports on a study that explored, first, how metadiscourse can enhance college students' awareness of readers' needs and, second, how the use of metadiscourse is related to the quality of the texts that students produced. Suggests that metadiscourse produces better student writing. (TB)

Discusses students' experiences with learning more about the "craft of writing." Considers ways to teach students to choose their own topics; to research; to organize for writing; to welcome imagination, metaphor, and memorable language; how to draft; how to give and get helpful responses; how to revise their writing to create strong…

Notes new Internet writing environments differ significantly from print forms: they allow texts to evolve--to change their purpose and audience over time. Suggests they allow for new forms of collaboration--texts organize themselves without an omniscient editor shaping them. Concludes that, as a profession, composition instructors need to…

Examines five preschool deaf children's use of sign language during free-choice writing. Finds the children used both signed language and nonverbal expression to engage in representational, directive, interactional, personal, and heuristic use of language to support their writing endeavors. Raises the question of whether nonverbal expression might…

Describes the author's experiences in preparing a talk that "evokes the specter" of Adolf Hitler and in writing an historical account of a British plot to kill Hitler. Address the question of why the British allowed him to live that final year of the war. Muses on why scholars write, and the impact of violence and terrorism. (SG)

How do young children learn to write? What types of instruction best facilitate the composing processes of young learners and what role could educational drama play in these processes? In this article, the author argues that the current inquiry into developmental processes of children's writing has neglected to consider both the role and the value…

The present study investigated the effects of speech recognition technology (SR) and advance planning on children's writing processes. Fluent and less fluent writers, ages 11 to 14, composed 4 narratives, via handwriting and SR, both with and without advance planning. Less fluent children's handwritten narratives were significantly inferior to…

Many students with learning disabilities (LD) exhibit deficiencies in the writing process. In order to achieve an adequate level of writing competence, these students must apply strategies that enable them to effectively plan, organize, write, and revise a written product. Explicit strategy instruction involving a structured style of learning has…

Learning to write well is a long process that comes through teacher modeling, instruction, practice, and feedback. Luckily, the writing process can be used to improve science learning, too. There is perhaps no better place than a science journal for students to develop informational writing skills. Daily journal prompts are one way to encourage…

Instructional rubrics can help students to improve their writing skills and become self-regulated writers. Clear, accessible instructional rubrics give students repeated practice with planning, revising, and editing. It is also noted that using rubrics for self-assessment and peer assessment will help the students navigate the writing process in…

This study investigated the presence and growth of kindergarten children's metacognition as they engaged in the writing process. The study was conducted in an environment that surrounded children with books, language, and print. Twice a month the teacher/researcher interviewed the children as they finished writing, asking questions designed to…

This study looks at the benefits of integrating visual art creation and the writing process. The qualitative inquiry uses student, parent, and teacher interviews coupled with field observation, and artifact analysis. Emergent coding based on grounded theory clearly shows that visual art creation enhances the writing process. Students used more…