This publication describes how writing in mathematics classes in Australia can be beneficial to students and their teachers, including: journal writing, expository writing, and transactional writing. In addition, it reports the results of a study that examined benefits derived by five secondary school mathematics teachers from reading their…

Effective informational writing assignments show students that creativity and imagination are essential to the generation of new ideas in all content areas. A collection of these assignments has been arranged into five categories of increasing complexity based on the following criteria: whether the point of view is assigned as self-selected;…

The writing program at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) is based on the idea that writing is taught best when it is emphasized in every discipline. There is an upper division writing requirement, and all departments design and teach advanced writing courses. In 1978, at the same time that the program was created, an outreach program to…

Freshman composition teachers who are attuned to real-life writing situations can extend the scope of traditional research paper assignments and at the same time meet the writing needs of other disciplines. For example, history students could record data from old records, or fine arts students could describe their artistic observations. To lead…

The writing across the curriculum program at La Salle University, Pennsylvania, derives its basic philosophy from Charles Bazerman's "The Informed Writer" which stresses that students learn about academic writing and reading in terms of a community of discourse. Though Bazerman's text is not used in the freshman composition course,…

Writing across the curriculum, or "writing-as-learning" (WAL), represents one of the most successful developments in writing instruction. WAL is an efficient teaching method for achieving educational goals in today's society because it effectively engages students in both the means and the ends of their education. Research has shown that…

To describe a cross-curriculum writing model designed for a middle school, this paper provides a condensed script of what the designer of the program said and did during its first year to steer the program in a productive direction. The paper is written in the form of exerpts from relevant conversations. The first conversation relates how the idea…

Written by teachers, the chapters in this book show how writing fosters learning in math, science, English, social studies, foreign language, philosophy, psychology, and art. Following an introduction by Anne Ruggles Gere, the first chapter, "Writing to Learn: The Nurse Log Classroom," by Steve Pearse, presents a comprehensive overview…

Three premises are basic to Writing Across the Curriculum: (1) when learning involves writing, more learning is achieved; (2) learning to write involves learning to manage and coordinate the component skills of writing within real writing tasks; and (3) through writing, students can learn how to actively touch the content of a class. The role of…

A study examined elementary school writing instruction to determine (1) how frequently students are writing, (2) when in the curriculum writing occurs, and (3) in what forms the writing occurs. Data were collected in 75 elementary classrooms in 25 midwestern schools during a 15-day period. The data deviated little from what D. Graves reported in…

Teachers' responsibility to improve students' writing entails changes in the teacher, the students, and the school. First, commitment to improvement requires the attainment of new knowledge on the teachers' part. They must be familiar with current research on the writing process and with how to translate that research into classroom practice.…

Suggests general principles for developing assignments where students prepare portfolios that reveal their overall communication skills in addition to the usual job search tools. Emphasizes that students should concentrate on including works in the portfolio with the criteria of quality, variety, professionalism, and maturity in mind. (SKC)

Presents annotated references to 41 classic examples of science writing and suggests ways many of them can be used in the classroom. (JK)

Isolates the variable of research writing as a means of defining an "advanced composition program." Concludes that advanced composition courses should focus on specialized writing. (MS)

Notes that writing can be a more effective tool for social studies learning if assignments require students to generate their own thoughts rather than restate someone else's ideas. Offers a two-day lesson on the reform of child labor practices during the English Industrial Revolution. A wide variety of writing activities are featured. (JDH)