Describes Subject-Attitude-Development (SAD) mapping, a technique for helping developmental reading students focus on information relevant to an author's thesis and recognize relationships between the thesis, main ideas, and supporting details. Discusses strategies for implementing SAD maps and student reactions to the technique. Includes sample…

Describes six basic formats that can be used to teach reading in the elementary classroom: shared reading, read-aloud, guided reading, Readers Theatre, sustained silent reading, and literature circles. Includes descriptions of the focus of instruction, suggestions for implementation strategies, and examples of materials that could be utilized.…

Proposes that general education curricula often have difficulty remaining faithful to goals of student empowerment. Provides case study of first year composition (FYC). Suggests that a strong commitment to reflection and revision of programs will create curricula that are more questioning and less comfortable with their own assumptions. Proposes…

Questions pedagogical frameworks that perpetuate semantic properties and representations of meanings that no longer hold true in changing classroom realities. Proposes the need for learning new languages, for speaking through a more dialogical, metonymic back and forth movement in the discourse of classrooms. (PM)

Discusses the purpose and effects of collaborative writing in proposal development projects. Suggests how collaboration serves the larger social functions of the modern corporation. Discusses how the circumstances of proposal development affect collaboration. Describes storyboarding--a common and often highly effective tool for fostering…

Describes a collaborative classroom process that helps build cohesion among group members by placing all students into the roles of writer, reader, editor, and evaluator. Presents six teaching tips for the process. (RS)

Argues that the five-paragraph-essay structure is a valuable teaching tool but cautions that composition teachers need to ensure that their students don't perceive it as an end in itself. Illustrates how students can learn the principles of effective composition and apply them to any writing task by making necessary modifications. (KEH)

Discusses what empowerment means to students at three academically elite and socially privileged colleges (Claremont McKenna College, Harvey Mudd College, and Scripps College) who already feel at home both in the "academy" and in the privileged world. Argues that writing teachers in such academies should help students understand their…

Describes an assignment given on the second class meeting in which students, working in pairs, find all the elements of organization used in a particular annual report and calculate sample sentence and paragraph lengths. Notes that such an activity serves as an introduction to class discussions on professional writing style. (RS)

Discusses use of multimedia software in a Mt. Pleasant, Texas, elementary school, and asserts that the key to writing success is "postwriting", which means publication of the work in some form. Suggests online forums for the publication of children's writing, and provides brief descriptions of four online student publishers, including…

Connecting students to reading and writing means connecting them to real-world readers and writers. Writers' Day at one Pennsylvania middle school was established to bring regular working professionals (not authors or poets) from the community to school to share how writing is used in their professional and personal lives. All participants…

Arguing that children need access to word processing to reap the same benefits as adult writers, a fourth-grade teacher convinced her administration to provide one computer per child during their writing workshop periods. Having portable word processors liberated student writers by making the mechanical aspects of writing easier. Students could…

Provides an account of the processes that are involved in the production of "Crime and Delinquency." Asserts that flawed writing in criminology and criminal justice appears to be a systemic rather than an individual one. Suggests to authors or prospective authors ways in which writing can be improved. (LKS)

Conducts a case study of the problem identification and resolution strategies of three basic writers. Finds that basic writers are capable of evaluating surface-level problems and rhetorical problems in both their own and peers' texts if instructors provide them with opportunities to do so. (RS)

A study of college students' (n=98) writing strategies and instructors' essay evaluation strategies revealed that time spent on the essay, number of books used, number of references cited, and proportion of research-based content in the essays influenced grading. However, students emphasized content and instructors emphasized argument. (Author/MSE)