Intended for preservice and inservice teachers, this book presents a collection of the best strategies and activities selected from "In the Classroom," a regular column of teaching ideas in the journal "The Reading Teacher" (October 1983 to May 1991 issues). Strategies in the book were selected for their proven effectiveness…

Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs advocate the incorporation of writing into all classes and all disciplines as a means of helping students to improve their writing skills and to use writing as a learning tool. While most instructors agree that students write poorly, the greatest obstacle to implementing WAC courses on community college…

Two case histories, one in a business and one in an academic setting, demonstrated the potential for an interdisciplinary approach in teaching technical communication. Cooperation between a writer with little understanding of computer software and technicians lacking sophisticated writing skills resulted in concise, effective, and easy to…

The formulae developed to encourage the impersonal writing considered correct in academic disciplines have their roots in past gender-biased scientific writing in which "male" thinking and writing intervened to subjugate female Nature. Vestiges of this idea of a masculine order as a clearly superior state are present in the more…

A review of the literature on writing across the curriculum (WAC) programs indicates that most such programs have four components. First, the programs require that students complete one of the following before graduation: (1) a timed writing test, (2) a departmental endorsement system, (3) a quota of regular content courses designated…

Based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 1984 assessment of the writing achievement of American school children, this report presents national and demographic subgroup achievement results for students in grades four, eight, and eleven, and discusses students' attitudes toward writing and instruction. The first chapter…

Four similarities between reading and writing and their corresponding instructional significance are examined in this literature review. Each of the four reviewed topics is prefaced by general instructional suggestions based on research cited in the review. Topics and suggestions are as follows: (1) linguistic--whenever possible, the processes of…

Intended to help education students develop a theoretical framework that will allow them to make cohesive instructional decisions and plan integrated language arts programs, this guide bridges the gulf between language research and classroom practice, acknowledging that language research is increasingly based upon language produced in such natural…

This resource manual resulted from a professional development project conducted in New York to provide two-year college staff members with the awareness, skills, and knowledge necessary to facilitate and reinforce occupational students' acquisition of writing skills. Introductory material outlines the purposes and objectives of the project, i.e.,…

A technique used in college-level accounting courses helped students to develop technical expertise and, at the same time, to improve writing skills. The approach was intended for classes that include both large groups of students learning English as a Second Language (ESL) and groups of non-ESL students. Student responses to exam questions were…

The emphasis on writing in the teaching of mathematics and science can empower teachers to reach all sectors of the pupil population. The use of ordinary language can help break the cultural barriers that have prevented minorities and women from achieving well in proportionate numbers in these fields. This volume focuses on pedagogical issues of…

Research indicates that students need to improve their critical thinking skills, but many students miss the opportunity to do so by not reading and analyzing their textbooks closely enough. Often, students believe that textbooks are objective materials full of "facts" that must be memorized, understood, and given back to the instructor,…

At a time when many public school teachers and administrators are limiting instructional goals to the lower level objectives found on standardized tests, there is a need for classroom activities derived from higher purposes. Conceptual analysis, which relates abstract concepts to the lives of students, meets this need. While focusing primarily on…

Emphasizes that literacy involves more than simply knowing how to read and write. Explains how a teacher expanded reading and writing activities to all areas of the curriculum to demonstrate to first grade students that writing can be used as a tool to make sense of the world around them. (SKC)

Describes the experiences of teachers participating in writing-across-the-curriculum workshops and the successful implementation of interdisciplinary teaching methods at La Salle University. Concludes that the program has not only improved the use of writing in all disciplines but has contributed to global transformations in teaching practices.…