Discusses some of the issues of choice and diversity in multicultural writing and reading assignments for secondary students. Draws on two research studies, one on high school students and one on middle school students. Notes that both studies found a mixture of desire for and discomfort with plurality in the classroom. (TB)

Describes the contributions portfolios can make within a discourse community awareness framework through a "disciplinary portfolio" pedagogy. Outlines the case for such a pedagogy and describes a teaching situation in which the disciplinary portfolio has been employed within an English for academic purposes context. (34 references)…

A recreation professor and a writing teacher created a college program combining outdoor experiences with personal narrative writing. Students learn technical outdoor skills and a process of self-discovery, experience the complete writing process, and build cohesive discourse communities. Developing such a program involves making goals, designing…

Presents a professional development project in which two kindergarten teachers conducted a writing program designed to help kindergartners become more accomplished and independent writers. Describes the strategies used to assist children in finding topics to draw and write about, learning to draw stories (ideas), learning about letter-sound…

Presents a report of the second and third years of a study that describes one teacher's experience with change as he implements a process approach to the teaching of writing. Shows the development of a multistrand program that facilitates the writing development of the class as a whole. (MG)

Appraises and provides validity evidence on the reliability of secondary students' scores on attitudes toward writing as measured by the Daly and Miller Writing Apprehension Scale (WAS) and the Attitudes toward Writing with the Computer Scale (ATWCS). Concludes that students' attitudes toward writing and toward writing with the computer can be…

Argues that bulk mailings can successfully be used in the classroom to teach reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Provides examples of activities addressing salutations, alliteration, connotations, rhetorical appeals, sentence structures, close reading, and vocabulary development. (KEH)

A description is given of how the principal of a middle school introduced innovations in teachings methods and class scheduling to improve students' behavior and academic achievement. (JD)

Presents "Beastly Thoughts," a holistic writing module designed to involve students in decision-making processes about socially relevant issues regarding animals. Provides 48 activities for investigation and lists 33 references for possible book reviews. Includes 38 references. (MVL)

Assists writers in getting started, organizing material effectively, and producing high quality technical documents. Uses a nine-block information matrix to provide a system of checks to evaluate the paper. Indicates that each section of the matrix can be written separately and then combined into a coherent document. (Author/MVL)

Describes instructional techniques, based on schema theory, which enable English as a second language (ESL) students to revise their writing to meet the expectations of English-speaking readers. Illustrates this approach by examining a Chinese-speaking student's first revision of an essay. (RS)

Compares the administrative structures and educational ideologies of the writing center model and the curriculum-based model of peer tutoring. Argues that while the curriculum-based model may be administratively more efficient, the writing center model offers a collaborative learning environment in which students critically understand themselves…

Argues that computers can be useful partners in the writing process even for reluctant or poor writers. Describes from a linguistic perspective factors that help explain why writing is a difficult task and briefly describes several computer programs which are based on such factors. (RS)

Examines fifth- and sixth-grade students' metacognitive knowledge about the processes of writing narrative and expository texts. Finds that creating a communicative context enhances students' awareness of audience and purpose, as well as their understanding of different aspects of the writing process. (MG)

Annotates (1) 28 professional books which deal with the whole language approach in the area of reading and writing; and (2) eight books to use as computer-related resources. (MG)