This report presents the findings from a 2-stage, multi-method study conducted in 2000 and 2001 on the editing skills and processes which students at two schools in New Zealand used when working with word processors and with pencils. The study's main aim was to examine the influence of the use of a word processor on students' editing processes and…

Comprehensive and logically sequenced, this guide seeks to helps educators publish on topics such as classroom experience, conference presentations, or research projects. Included in the guide are practical strategies, concrete examples, recommended resources, and advice from experts. The guide focuses on writing and how it is approached and…

This article features questions and answers about "Kid Writing" (KW), the process of turning children who do not know the alphabet into fluent, proficient, and confident writers. According to the article, the questions were gathered during a live chat with the authors of "Kid Writing: A Systematic Approach to Phonics, Journals, and…

Reflection requires time. In one class, students were asked to engage in a process of written reflection about the writing they had done immediately after they prepared their papers, as they sat in class preparing to hand in those papers. Reflective writing, which Peter Elbow and Pat Belanoff call "process writing," appears throughout…

Based on the idea that a personal history is a gift to share and can restore the connection between generations, this book is animated by the belief that life has value and knowledge for others. The book traces the writing process of producing a personal history with supportive coaching, stimulating questions, shared memories, and evocative…

"Inkshedding" grew out of a process of trying to make "freewriting" into something dialogically transactional. The idea was to give writing a social role in a classroom, and thus to create a situation in which the writing was read by real readers, to understand and respond to what was said rather than to evaluate and "help" with the writing. In…

A newly-hired faculty member at the State University of New York at Cortland began a Faculty Writing Group that met every other week to discuss their writing projects and progress. What he expected was that the members would sustain themselves as writers via the newly established Faculty Writing Group. What he did not expect was that the Faculty…

Taking the mystery out of how skilled writers think, this book shares some practical tips on how to make prose more readable. It also examines some common questions about punctuation, quoting, usage issues, and stylistic taboos. The book is geared to those writers who have already been through the "textbook mill and who now hunger for helpful…

Interactive writing is a term coined by a research group of faculty members from the Ohio State University and teachers from the Columbus Public Schools. The group examined Moira McKenzie's (1985) work in shared writing and adopted the approach as having power in helping children understand the writing process. They varied the approach with a…

The issue of personal writing is hotly contested in composition studies. Some believe that personal writing has no place in academic writing. In a discussion with Peter Elbow regarding personal versus academic writing, David Bartholomae argues that "academic writing is the real work of the academy." Elbow, on the other hand, argues that…

Addresses these questions in terms of the adult learner: (1) what is the relationship between writing and learning? (2) is the decline in writing skills a particular problem for the adult learner? (3) can writing be used as a teaching method to enhance learning? and (4) what are the implications for the adult educator? (JOW)

Argues that, like making stew, there is more than one sequential writing process, and that while one cannot discern the process by examining the product, the product (or purpose) cannot help but shape the processes. (HTH)

Reviews Emig's methodology, highlighting both the timeliness of her study, and the flaws in her generalizations about writing teachers' expertise. Cautions against depending upon her results and those of similar studies, as the final word on the writing process. (HTH)

Explores the similar and different ways that reading and writing influence consciousness. Summarizes the relationship between reading and writing as meditation--a way of modifying inner speech or composing in the mind. (HTH)

Discusses research on the nature and strategies of children's invented spelling, including a developmental model of such spelling. Suggests ways to encourage invented spelling, while examining whether it will interfere with learning to read and write standard spelling. (HTH)