Providing young infants with a loving and interesting environment through play will have a positive impact on their future. This book, designed for first time parents, provides simple and enjoyable activities intended to promote brain development during the first year. The book's introduction discusses the importance of the environment during the…

This study focused on the use of journal writing and worksheets in the area of social studies within a suburban elementary school. The study was designed to determine if there was a difference in children's social studies test scores when they completed journal activities or when they completed worksheets. Subjects were 36 Tennessee fifth-grade…

Family Message journals, notebooks in which first-graders write a message to their families and receive a family reply each day, provide a fertile context for instruction and practice in writing for real-world functions and authentic audiences. Observation of classroom instruction, qualitative analysis of case-study children's and families'…

Noting that the emphasis in writing instruction over the past 40 years has shifted from product to process, this digest focuses on the experience of individual teachers as they searched for ways to put the principles of process writing into practice in the classroom. The first section discusses writer's workshops, noting that teachers have found…

This book presents 30 brief practical teaching ideas for writing and English instruction in secondary classrooms. The first chapter presents various strategies for helping students learn to write well: students compile their own examples of effective writing; they turn interviews into gift books; they record their own activities for a whole day to…

Civic involvement is a powerful opportunity in which young citizens can be more engaged in society. It provides young citizens with various opportunities to see themselves as contributing members to the community-at-large. Civic involvement enhances citizenship and civic engagement, allowing young citizens to develop a sense of community as an…

Journal entries of disadvantaged students in a preadmission prep course illustrate the potential of such "personal" writing to perform a powerful cultural critique and bridge the gap between academic and personal discourses. A conflict appeared between literate practices students already used and those they were expected to adopt in academia. (SK)

Describes a program for children and incarcerated fathers called "Breaking Barriers with Books," which seeks to promote closer father-child bonds through booksharing. Shows how journal writing provided a unique outlet for personal expression by fathers, and discusses the program's three parts: the instructional component, the parent-child…

A ninth-grade English teacher at an urban California high school taught writing through focusing on tolerance. Books by young people who grew up with war, coupled with guaranteed anonymity, inspired and liberated her students to write about real, controversial topics in their journals, gaining them national recognition. Revising, peer editing, and…

Compares Sophocles'"Antigone" with the shootings of antiwar protestors on May 4, 1970, at Kent State University to help ancient tragedy come alive for students as modern tragedy. (MG)

Describes a journal writing activity designed to engage students in the exchange between text and reader. Argues that informal writing in a journal is a means of letting students find out that, if they engage themselves with a text, they will find it interesting. (RS)

Current thinking on reflective practice in teacher education is discussed, and a description is given of how dialogue journals are used to put this philosophy into action in a content-area reading methods course for secondary preservice teachers. (IAH)

Argues that teachers can determine the instructional frameworks which can empower students to understand more about their own learning. Describes activities (learning logs, directed reading-thinking activities) that develop higher level thinking skills using writing, reading, and reasoning. Concludes that such activities facilitate students'…

Describes an undergraduate women's literature course in which students write in journals. Argues that the course may resolve conflict between feminist teachers, who dislike some theorists' uncritical view of feminism, and theorists, who dislike the taint of male philosophy in feminist teaching. Suggests that course interaction can bridge these…

Shares an account of one student's writing journal and how he developed as a writer. (MG)