In the English classroom, narrative writing is often separated from the work of reading literature or used merely to coax reluctant students into discussing textually relevant topics. This article discusses a close writing activity, Image Explosion, that engages students in narrative writing that brings attention to the smallest details of…

Background: Automated writing evaluation (AWE) systems, used as formative assessment tools in writing classrooms, are promising for enhancing instruction and improving student performance. Although meta-analytic evidence supports AWE's effectiveness in various contexts, research on its effectiveness in the U.S. K-12 setting has lagged behind its…

As writing teachers at the community college level, we have a unique opportunity to teach writing that is infused with passion, but we must begin by first reconnecting with those writers who we read and admired as students and recall why we became community college composition teachers in the first place. We must remember that we write to make…

Life writing is frequently considered as a private act of composition and reflection. What are the benefits and challenges if students are asked to participate in a collaborative life-writing project that aims to capture, explore, and reflect upon the relationship between personal life history, memory and place? In this essay, I will demonstrate…

Motivation is a catalyst of writing performance in school. In this article, we report a systematic review of empirical studies on writing motivation conducted in school settings, published between 2000 and 2018 in peer-reviewed journals. We aimed to (1) examine how motivational constructs have been defined in writing research; (2) analyze group…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how content area teachers of the deaf integrate writing instruction, and factors that impact content area writing practices. Integrating writing into the disciplines is currently emphasized in order to support literacy and content learning. Teachers of the deaf (N = 134) responded to a national survey…

SRSD interventions on writing have shown to be effective across a myriad of contexts and populations. Less is known, however, about their effectiveness for improving the writing skills of disadvantaged children, relative to their efficacy with other types of students. This is important, because low-SES children have been found to often display…

As a community college writing instructor, I found older students to be both an asset and a mentor in guiding students through the process of exploring their lives and values.

In this article, we describe student-centered routines that prepare students for success on ambitious text-based writing assignments. Based on research showing the important role that peer collaboration and classroom discussion play in developing students' thinking, these routines support students to 'try out' their ideas, learn from the…

One of the most difficult parts of the writing process for many teachers is publishing. It is easy to focus writing instruction on the process itself and give publishing much less time--or leave it out completely. Many teachers are unaware of options they have to help students publish outside of essay contests and often rely on gallery walks or…

The study investigated the effectiveness of the project writing training developed and implemented for pre-service primary teachers. A case study was adopted in the research. The participants of the study were 17 students of the department of primary school teaching at nine different universities in Turkey. In this context, an online project…

This study investigates teacher participation in a national online youth civic letter writing project through the lens of teacher civic commitments. Drawing on in-depth interviews and survey data from teachers who participated in the Letters to the Next President 2.0 project, civic commitments are articulated through civic beliefs, learning goals,…

This narrative inquiry explores the tension two preservice teachers experienced when designing writing curricula that underscored their writer identity. For the purposes of this article, I define writer identity as one's personal writing experiences, habits, and beliefs. I intentionally elicited stories from participants about their experiences as…

This article reports on the implementation of a formative assessment tool (the Writing Engagement Scale, or WES) in grades 3-5 in schools in the United States. We used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to collect validity evidence for the WES for our population. Results demonstrated acceptable validity and reliability. In addition, survey results…

The author examines guided play among students in a South African classroom using a play-and-write workshop constructed by her and her students. She determines that the workshop displays the characteristics of playful learning, lies on the playful learning spectrum, and fits the criteria for guided play. She concludes that, given the benefits of…