Describes a Missouri-based program, Parents as Teachers (PAT), in which professionals work with parents to develop literacy activities in the home. Discusses a new adaptation of the original PAT program, its observed effects, and implications for schools. (MG)

Examines journal writing as a teaching/learning technique enabling students to connect specific course concepts to their experiences. Uses a questionnaire to assess student attitudes toward journal writing. Finds students believe journal writing stimulates critical thinking and provides feedback about learning. Teachers agree journals provide…

Describes a laboratory course in developmental psychology as an example of teaching undergraduate students thinking and writing skills. Lists different written and oral communication employed: scientific experimental report writing, sequential and topical protocols of infant behavior, blooper examination responses, and oral presentations.…

Considers the question of how best to elicit samples of writing for assessment in an English-for-academic-purposes proficiency test and assure that every test taker has something to write about. Three types of writing tasks are defined and analyzed, and examples are given. (25 references) (GLR)

Describes guidelines for written homework used in a mathematics course designed to develop skills in understanding and communicating mathematics. Illustrates some examples of common homework errors. (YP)

Examines the effect of simplified reading materials on writing skills of 10-year-old English-as-a-Second-Language students in England. Finds no increase in students' expressive resources but does find a consolidating effect on command of the language system. Relates results to Krashen's model of second language acquisition. (RS)

Compared the writing skills of psychology students enrolled in a sheltered content-area English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) writing course with those of ESL psychology students enrolled in a course with more traditional instruction. Both groups gained in language proficiency; however, the findings suggest that focussed reading rather than actual…

Thirteen-year-olds' interest in writing is alterable in educational settings; and is significantly associated with the educational productivity factors of subjects' (N=28,405) peer group, gender, and quantity and quality of instruction. Essay writing performance appears to be associated significantly with a student's ability, peer group, and a…

Described is a method of teaching laboratory report writing to undergraduate students. The sections of student lab reports are reviewed and compared with scientific papers. The writing process including drafts and peer review is discussed. Results of the use of this method are provided. (CW)

Discusses activities of emergent preschool writers and editors involved in the Writing Table Project at the Child and Family Center of the University of Nevada at Reno. (BB)

Considers biography-centered learning as a model for teaching social studies in elementary school. Provides a sequence of steps and a description of each to help students read and write biography as a knowledge transforming process. Claims students learn to do research and write, both vital to a democratic society. (NL)

Reports on two research studies investigating whether teachers can enhance third-grade students' written composition skills by reading aloud to them. Indicates that written composition skills improved, especially written syntactic maturity. (SR)

Described is a physics course for satisfying the junior-year writing requirement. Gives nine assignment examples of the course. Discusses the use of the writing component as a teaching aid in junior level "Electricity and Magnetism" course. (YP)

Briefly describes the differences between specialized foreign language schools and ordinary general education schools in the Soviet Union. The changes currently taking place in the organization of English language teaching in schools in the Soviet Union are discussed. (22 references) (Author/CB)

Reexamines what learning the alphabet means from the child's perspective. Draws from several case studies and other naturalistic examinations of young children as they learn to read and write to describe what young children learn about the alphabet. (MG)