Teaching invention strategies on the computer offers solutions to the problems of selection and presence by providing a variety of invention strategy alternatives. These strategies inform the teacher of the rhetorical task at hand and allow communication to exist at all stages of writing. A writer using a computer and a pool of heuristic…

As a follow-up to the successful book "Eight Approaches to Teaching Composition," this collection of 13 original essays presents the major research and scholarship in the related fields that are shaping the theory and practice of composition studies. Each chapter defines a special area of study, assesses its published literature from the…

Arguing that computers can help college students make connections between reading and rhetorical theory and research by providing them with opportunities to read reflectively and rhetorically, this paper describes an ideal computer assisted reading component of a composition program. Following a brief introduction, the first section of the paper…

Focusing on writing as a way of learning subject matter, this paper describes two writing activities in an eighth grade social studies curriculum. First, the paper describes the use of the writing journal--its purposes, advantages, and format--and classroom activities in which students responded to such works as "Lord of the Flies" and…

A study investigated the feasibility of presenting to primary-grade children a holistic, functional language arts program instead of a subskill one. Over 1,000 children from 16 inner city elementary schools were divided into three groups: (1) Group A, taught by teachers trained in holistic and language oriented approaches to reading and writing,…

In the belief that effective writing instruction can be a critical component in successful learning, and to better understand the role that writing plays in content area learning, this book presents an extensive study of writing assignments in the secondary school curriculum. Following an introduction, the book provides an overview of the project,…

The 31 references cited in this resource list, intended for researchers, curriculum developers, and teachers, were selected to help make sense of the reading-writing connection and to help answer three questions: (1) What is the whole language approach? (2) Why should I teach reading and writing together? and (3) How can I teach reading and…

A synthesis of research on teaching composition and on effective schooling, this report reviewed 36 documents to present findings on: writing as a process; instructional practices; instructional modes; and teacher training. As the major general finding from the research the report identifies, higher student achievement when the teaching approach…

The 2-year study investigated the use of word processing technology with 36 learning disabled (LD) intermediate grade children and 9 remedial teachers in five Massachusetts school districts. During the first year study staff documented how word processing was being used. In the second year, word processing activities hypothesized to be the most…

This pamphlet reviews five reports that highlight an emerging consensus among researchers about the value of systematically incorporating cognitive instruction into the elementary school curriculum. First is a comprehensive framework by Robert J. Marzano and C. L. Hutchins for an integrated approach to thinking skills that has been developed and…

Described in this paper is a writing strategy used in English-as-a-second-language (ESL) classes for Spanish-speaking adult immigrants in a Washington, D.C. center that goes beyond the standard ESL textbook reading/writing exercises to involve students in the writing process. The teacher wrote a brief text in the first person on a topic of…

A study of the writing of 12 sixth-grade students of English as a second language (ESL) compared the quantity and maturity of writing in three assigned tasks and unassigned entries in dialogue journals. The assigned tasks varied in topic control, audience, and purpose. Qualities of the writing were examined using measures of quantity, complexity,…

During the 1985-86 school year the Albuquerque City Center Schools and Rio Grande High School Cluster Project focused on student literacy skills, behavior, and attendance. A variety of activities and programs were initiated. Main components of the program were the following: (1) itinerant teachers worked with classroom teachers to conduct…

To determine whether a comprehensive, cooperative learning approach can be used effectively in elementary reading and writing instruction, a study evaluated the Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (CIRC) program. Experimental subjects, 11 third- and fourth-grade CIRC classes, worked in heterogeneous learning teams for all reading,…

Writing does more than demonstrate the interpretive process active in the mind of a student, it influences and directs the interpretive process in writing. Writing to read allows the expressive dimension to find an overt, secure place in the interpretive framework of a student's learning. By examining a student's theoretical explanation of her…