McGinnis draws on the idea of engaged learning as critical and illustrates how school literacy practices do not provide urban Khmer youth (and by extension, other groups whose backgrounds are linguistically or socioculturally distinct) with deep levels of engagement in literacy activities. By looking at the types of writing experiences these youth…

On-line writing can disrupt conventions; it can challenge the way writers write in the classroom; however, after logging off, the writer re-enters the academy and its more traditional ways of inscribing student subjectivities. The question is asked if educators, when arguing for the freedom of electronic classrooms, are taking into consideration…

The effects of a writing-across-the-curriculum program on graduates 2 to 9 years after program completion at Saint Mary's College (Indiana) were studied. A survey of 656 graduates (over one-third of the sample) from 8 graduating classes gathered data regarding the types of writing being utilized by the graduates, and the effectiveness of their…

Primary teachers who were nominated by their supervisors as effective in educating their students to be readers and writers responded to two questionnaires about their practice. Subjects were 23 kindergarten, 34 first-grade, and 26 second-grade teachers. As expected, there were shifts in reported practices between kindergarten and grade 2,…

Developed and put together by the Department of Humanities at Umpqua Community College (UCC) in Roseburg, Oregon, this booklet is intended to clarify (for students, faculty, staff, advisers, and community) the specific function and scope of the writing courses offered in the department. The booklet offers an overview of the department's general…

Focusing on issues that define the multicultural society and intended to help students become alert readers, more purposeful and effective writers, and thinking members of the larger community, this book is built around selections by committed writers who demonstrate the power of the written word to record, interpret, and change today's social and…

Unfortunately, students with emotional and psychological disorders are not uncommon on campuses anymore. In fact, along with the increase in the number of physically disabled students on campuses (now 6%), professors face new challenges, especially from those high-risk students suffering from hidden psychological disorders like schizophrenia,…

Data on the writing achievement of 11th-grade students in 1990 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) may help answer the question of who is right: employers and educators who say students are poorly prepared in writing, or parents and students, who are more positive about the results of the writing preparation students receive…

A lesson in writing stresses that pupils can choose what to write about in a nature setting. Answers to numerous questions arising when involving pupils in writing can be found in this activity, including: (1) how to motivate learners to write; (2) whether to teach specific writing skills as they write; (3) what guidance and assistance to offer on…

Conventional grading is so ubiquitous that it is tempting to see it as inevitable and to feel hopeless about making any changes. It is often not reliable nor does it have clear meaning. Also, it does not give students feedback about what they did well or badly. Even while operating under a conventional grading system, composition teachers can use…

Many instructors are planning to teach their writing classes in the networked computer classroom. Through the use of electronic mail, course listservs, and chat programs, the instructor is offered the opportunity to facilitate a more egalitarian classroom discourse that creates a strong sense of community, not only between students, but also…

Using Ariadne's thread in the narrative of the labyrinth as a metaphor for the elusiveness of language, this paper explores the concept of "self" to prepare for the discussion of autobiography as a "tool" for teaching writing, and to create a connection between a politically enabled self, a private self, and critical theory.…

This annual serial volume contains 19 articles offering practical pedagogical ideas from faculty at New Hampshire technical colleges. The following articles are presented: (1) "Goodbye Mr. Desrochers or What I Learned While Teaching My First Lit. Course," by Diane Chin; (2) "A Teacher Learns: Building a Fly Rod," by Walter…

An oral activity designed to help prepare college students of English as a second language for assignments and rhetorical strategies for essay writing is described. The activity, which comprises several tasks and can require up to two class periods, requires students to compare and contrast a painting and a poem that have a common theme or aspect.…

This paper describes a study that evaluated a program in which students' reading and writing skills improved with the enhancement of various interventions related to reading and writing. The targeted population consisted of elementary students enrolled in first and third grades in northern Illinois. The lack of reading and writing success was…