This curriculum guide is intended to introduce elementary school students to the reading and writing of poetry. Poems by recognized poets make up the bulk of the selections in the guide, but some poems by elementary school students are also included. The writers hope that the teacher will use the guide to encourage students to write their own…

This professional book is addressed to prospective and experienced teachers of language arts at the elementary school level. The authors argue that creative communication, the goal of the language arts, is attained best when the teacher nurtures each child's creative potential at the same time that he teaches essential linguistic skills. The book…

This book discusses a program for learning how to write fiction and poetry as well as reports, lectures, and memos. The program can be used in writing classes or by individuals who want to improve their writing ability. The first chapter discusses the value of "freewriting exercises," the production of unedited, non-stop written work. Chapter two…

AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE BY A GROUP OF HISTORIANS TO DEVISE AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE INTRODUCTORY COLLEGE SURVEY COURSE IN AMERICAN HISTORY THAT WOULD GIVE THE STUDENT A MORE REALISTIC IDEA OF HOW HISTORY IS WRITTEN, AND RESCUE HIM FROM HIS PRESENT ESSENTIALLY PASSIVE ROLE OF ABSORBER OR COMMENTATOR AND FREE HIM TO "DO" HISTORY. THE PROJECT TOOK…

Day-by-day lesson ideas are given for an eight-day writing unit in which students study literary conventions and write their own short stories. Evaluation of the stories is continuous throughout the unit and partly done by other students. (SJL)

In a graduate in-service course on creativity in teaching, an exercise in finishing a story was used to see if teachers scored better on three of Guilford's creativity traits (expressional fluency, elaboration, and originality) when working alone or in groups and when provided or not provided with clues. (SJL)

Because of their effectiveness, as well as their accessiblity as points of reference, TV commercials can provide excellent bridges in teaching concepts of good, effective writing. Specificity through metaphor is only one of the many basic writing course topics that can be effectively illustrated through TV commercials. (Author/EB)

Looks into the functions of children's writing to determine what children can meaningfully write about. Discusses research on the functions of writing and then suggests assignments where children write letters to different audiences, such as to themselves and to their future children. These assignments help children learn about themselves. (SKC)

Offers an author's thoughts on winning the Newbery Medal. Reveals the writer's background and his tentative beginnings as a children's author. (NKA)

Suggests techniques for the efficient use of one word processor among many students by dividing the writing process into stages of prewriting, writing, editing, and publishing. Examples of exercises and evaluations, a guide to producing a book, and a list of publications that accept children's writing are provided. (CLB)

Presents a study of the use of serious subject matter in plays for youth by (1) tracing the trends of increasing advocacy and acceptance of such subject matter and (2) outlining patterns in the ways in which such subject matter is presented, focusing on original, contemporary plays, written by American playwrights. (JC)

Examines the life and works of Cynthia Rylant, an author of children's books. Rylant tells about her personal life, discusses her writing habits, how she chooses illustrators for her books, and her relationship with her editor. (NKA)

Describes a five-month project wherein three classes of sophomore language arts students with reading and writing deficiencies wrote and produced plays. Claims this "constructivist" technique is effective because individual components of language are acquired intuitively as the learner engages actively in discourse with other active readers and…

An author traces the development of a survival story, "The Sign of the Beaver," and examines the elements basic to the genre in some other well-known stories. (SD)

Describes an experimental project implemented in a language school in northern Italy in which students, using a poem as a basis, created a cast of characters and expanded the poem's story line to create a world in which the characters could interact. (SED)