The Water in Africa Project was realized over a 2-year period by a team of Peace Corps volunteers. As part of an expanded, detailed design, resources were collected from over 90 volunteers serving in African countries, photos and stories were prepared, and standards-based learning units were created for K-12 students. This unit, "Narrative…

Noting that electronic communication places new demands on language that leads to interesting variations in written language use, this Digest summarizes insights gained from research on writing behavior and performance in the electronic age. It concludes that both the process and the content of writing are evolving in response to the increased use…

Virtually every aspect of modern life has been changed and shaped by the computer's tiny, ubiquitous silicon chips. It is not surprising that computers have had a profound effect on the way students learn in the modern classroom. This topical bibliography and commentary focuses on how computers can be used to enhance the teaching of language arts.…

This report describes a program for improving writing skills through choices of structured and unstructured writing process. The purpose of this program is to increase their ability to produce quality writing as measured by the district's fourth grade writing rubric. The targeted population consisted of an average fourth grade class, located in a…

This book is designed for teachers who are looking for approaches to make the teaching of writing fresh. The book offers suggestions for writing that are appropriate across the curriculum and for students in Grades K-12. It contains ideas for enlivening students' writing experiences, including an innovative use of the "helping circle." It advises…

The computer-mediated communication (CMC) learning environment focuses on children's interaction with the computers and their mastery of the technology as potential for learning. Peer interaction mainly in cooperative and collaborative learning environments (CL) focus on the contribution of peers to literacy and writing development. A study…

Research shows that writing can be used across the curriculum to help students come to grips with their understanding (or lack of understanding) of information presented in each day's lessons. Teachers of all subjects and at all grade levels should be trained to understand the writing process and its importance for learning. (PP)

Uses personal experience to show how writing instructors can help students articulate their audience and purpose, use written products purposefully, identify the intellectual demands of their task, and then consciously formulate their ideas in light of these demands. (MM)

Discusses the radical dramatism of language and the implications for writing instruction. (MM)

Reviews the research literature on the teaching of writing. Lists practices and procedures that the research shows to be either helpful or of dubious value. (AEA)

Examines the effects of stressing three phases of the composing process (feedback, revision, and invention) in the teaching of composition. (HOD)

Papers from the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement examine the theoretical considerations and cognitive processes of written composition, writing curriculum analysis, school writing domain specifications, the interrelationships of writing task specifications, and scoring of compositions. An analysis of writing…

Explores the transition of several children from spoken language to beginning writing. (HTH)

Demonstrates that the manner in which fourth-grade students develop points of view in classroom writing is a function of the verbal interaction patterns these children maintain with their teachers. (HOD)

Recent history of writing research introduces a treatise on the development of writing abilities in preschool age children. Topics include composing processes, an examination of research done on the function rather than the form of writing, and language variation among various ethnolinguistic groups. (JN)