Intended for curriculum directors, English or language arts chairpeople, and administrators, this book is designed to illuminate the common beliefs and procedures of the National Writing Project, which have been developed with the support of Title IV-C of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and state and local resources, by offering a…

Thirty-five exemplary application essays, chosen by admissions officers from top business schools around the country, are presented with the intention of inspiring people applying to business schools. The essays prove that such pieces of writing do not have to be boring and stuffy with pretentious wording. An accurate, enthusiastic reflection of…

As evidenced by the increasing awareness of metaphorical thought (and other nonlinear and aesthetic thinking structures) in literature on the development of composing and comprehending skills, teaching metaphor as a mode of thinking is an important function of schooling, especially in the English classroom. It is important that the classroom…

Revision, an essential component of the writing process, encompasses two basic elements: rewriting the content to assure clarity, and editing the draft to eliminate mechanical and grammatical errors. It is important for teachers to plan lessons directed specifically toward helping children make more sense of their messages. This document presents…

In 1972, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia instituted the Regents' Testing Program (RTP) to provide systemwide information on the status of student competence in reading and writing and to provide a uniform means of identifying those students who fail to attain minimum levels of competence in these areas. Since 1972, some…

The work in second language education of the Assessment of Performance Unit, established by the Department of Education and Science of England and Wales to monitor certain areas of the public education curriculum is described. The focus is on the development of a rationale for testing, the elicitation procedures used in the assessment of speaking…

The twelve essays in this collection, selected by leading teacher educators, explore the composition process and composition instruction. The first essay, "Toward Righting Writing" by Arthur Diagon, serves as a prologue while the second section, "getting started," consists of "A Way of Writing" by William Stafford,…

In the spirit of the Texas Hill Country Writing Project and in response to the requirements of the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills, this guide presents writing assignments reflecting a commitment to a unified writing program for kindergarten through grade twelve. The framework for the assignments is adopted from the discourse theory of James…

Subjective engagement and cognitive skills are important for various aspects of writing skills. For the work of writing to be efficient, the student must be able to function in both a rhetorical and productive situation, defined in terms of subject, function, and audience. The processes of writing--defined as planning, translating, and reviewing…

This guide contains 15 units designed to help adult basic education or literacy education students write materials used in everyday life. The first section of the guide contains an introduction to the writing/teaching process and suggestions for teachers. The 15 units that follow serve as a workbook for students. They cover the following topics:…

A guide to the use of and rationale for dialogue journal writing for promoting the writing development of limited English proficient students is organized in question-answer format. It answers questions often asked by teachers about dialogue journal writing: What is a dialogue journal? What are the benefits to students and teachers? How much time…

To determine the syntactic maturity of eighth grade Canadian students' writing, all the students in four eighth grade classes were asked to write two compositions--one narrative and one argumentative--two weeks apart. The syntactic maturity level of the resulting 81 narrative compositions and 82 written arguments was compared with the syntactic…

Social studies and language arts teachers can use these self-contained activities to teach writing skills to students in grades 6-12. Some of the activities have a global approach requiring students to write about topics such as human rights and cultural differences. Information provided for each activity includes an introduction, objectives, time…

This report presents the major available evidence to date on the validity of the New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test (NJCBSPT). The findings are as follows: (1) results of two content-validity questionnaires show New Jersey college instructors to be in general agreement that the test content is appropriate and important to assess; (2)…

The Alberta Essay Scales were developed to assist teachers in the grading of essays. They represent a standard based on written compositions at the 12th grade level in 1964 to be compared with current composition writing achievement. A scale for mechanics in English and one for writing style and content are defined through model essays and…