This report on the role of the arts in progressive and experimental education suggests that, despite certain notable exceptions, alternative schools have traded the old formalism for a new disorder that is unfriendly to some (though not all) elements of successful arts instruction: critical self-consciousness, periodic solitude, and stringent…

The last of four related manuals describing the goals and methods of an established developmental theatre project at the University of Colorado, this manual discusses the processes involved in selecting and adapting scripts for specific audiences. The manual suggests ways to cut longer plays for school audiences, methods for organizing parts of…

The theme of this issue of the "Connecticut English Journal" is poetry instruction. Numerous ideas, examples, programs, and resources are offered to help students and teachers learn to read, analyze, write, and enjoy poems. The 28 articles and poems provide interpretations of what poetry is, ideas for publishing student writing, strategies for…

Frequently, writing students are so concerned with correct grammar and mechanics that their essays are stilted and dry. Their writing is further hampered by rhetorical formulas that describe what the structure of the essay should be when it is finished but not how to go about writing it. Can poetic invention strategies help produce better essays?…

This collection of transcriptions of taped interviews with 19 successful writers of adolescent literature, among whom are Judy Blume, Vera and Bill Cleaver, Isabelle Holland, and Paul Zindel, attempts to provide answers to questions about the nature of writing and of writers. Subject areas covered in the transcripts include how and when the…

A theory of teaching creative writing that involves preconscious learning is presented in this paper. Following a review of the literature on methods of developing writing ability, the paper describes a three-step creative process of preparation (the gathering and study of appropriate materials), incubation (the preconscious absorption and shaping…

Justification for the publication of college literary magazines is offered in this paper. Among the reasons listed for continuing publication are: to fulfill writers' needs to see their work in print, to provide the opportunity for student editors to exercise their critical skills, and to bring enjoyment to readers. (AEA)

The dramatic performance and writing activities in this guide are applicable to all grade levels and content areas. Methods are suggested for selecting material for oral interpretation and dramatics, and specific student activities are listed in the following areas: monologue, dialogue, and conversation; oral reading of prose, poetry, and drama,…

Students can be taught to create vivid, colorful descriptions. To train their senses and sharpen their word choices and images, they can be asked to (1) list specific adjectives to describe such an image-producing word as "ocean," (2) substitute sharply-etched verbs for general ones in a given sentence, (3) record day-to-day observations in a…

An interest in poetry provides motivation for children to read; in order to inspire such an interest, teachers must avoid four commonly used approaches to poetry: teaching poetry as an isolated subject, as if it had a language all its own; teaching poetry for purposes of analysis; selecting inappropriate poetry for children and presenting it in…

This book maintains that, because male critics have evaluated feminine writing according to the standards of masculine style, women have received biased criticism in the past. This study attempts an objective analysis of possible differences in the published writings of men and women by considering certain critical stereotypes that have been…

The purpose of this study was to determine the scores of children's ideas for creative writing when given freedom of choice of topic, and to determine if those children who expressed ideas reportedly original to them were more or less creative than the others. The subjects, selected from grades 2, 4, and 6, were a stratified random sample…

This paper argues that instead of getting "back to basics" (correct usage, spelling, capitalization, etc.) teachers of writing should be concerned with the fundamentals of writing well. These include an attention to the composing process; experience with producing a variety of writings (spontaneous writing, the persuasive essay, the critical…

The essays included in this periodical focus on teaching elementary school children how to appreciate and how to write poetry. "Children, Poetry, and Memorization," by J.F.S. Smeall, outlines the historical basis, and perceptual limitations, of the use of print media alone in classroom instruction. Suggestions for encouraging children's recitation…

This investigation is concerned with teachers' attitudes toward activities students engage in before writing, the purpose of students' writing, and their motivation for writing. The findings of the study indicate that classroom discussion seems to be teacher-centered, with very little action taking place among the students; most of the teachers…