Conducted in a kindergarten and first-grade combination classroom, a study examined two differing introductions to proposed journal entries, written after students listened to two stories of narrative fiction. Both stories were written by Margaret and H.A. Rey and focus upon Curious George as the main character. During the first phase of the data…

This self-instructional manual was developed in Australia for people who would like to learn about the writing process. about it. It provides an introduction to the key features of four kinds of texts, covering: (1) "Writing for Yourself"--keeping a journal and "what" to write in it; (2) writing to communicate with others; (3)…

Designed for teachers, parents, and teacher educators who are looking for an accessible text on the topic of learning to read, this book's comprehensive scope encompasses standards for early literacy instruction, instructional strategies, alternative assessment procedures, strategies for making connections, and ways to integrate children's home…

This book offers high school and college teachers both a philosophy of composition instruction and an immediately useful set of classroom-tested teaching ideas distilled from the author's 28 years of teaching writing. Throughout the book, two aims underlie all others: (1) to tap every student's inborn ability to think extensively and well; and (2)…

The focus here is on learning by school-age children, assisted by the family and/or peers, and supported and managed by professional teachers. The author/educator, who specializes in researching paired learning, provides an outline of the essential concepts of peer-assisted and parent-assisted learning, followed by discussion of some specific…

This document consists of four issues of a newsletter for educators at the elementary level. Each issue features articles on a specific theme along with regular columns. The Fall 1999 issue focuses on the role of autonomy in the elementary classroom using the constructivist approach. A second article presents fire and Halloween safety tips. The…

This booklet suggests that parents read with their elementary-age child, allowing the child to participate in the reading. The booklet also shows how to make the home a reader-friendly environment, initiate writing activities with a child, and make family trips to the library. Sections of the booklet are: "Read to Your Child"; "The…

One of the issues a college writing instructor grapples with in teaching writing is how best to structure collaborative groups to maximize benefit for each student in a multicultural classroom where many students might fairly be considered "marginalized"--to create an environment in which they become "insiders." Criteria sets for forming group…

Requiring and supporting the development of thinking skills, this paper presents Washington State's Essential Academic Learning Requirements for writing. It sees writing as an act of discovery, of communication, of joy, and as an essential part of a literate society. Four charts outline standards and benchmarks regarding: (1) writing clearly and…

This article looks at the relevance of linguistic and psycholinguistic studies to mother tongue instruction. Particularly, the semantically-oriented research of higher level units of language and speech, is considered. As some Estonian studies imply, there are indications that the application of psycholinguistic research in teaching practices…

This study compared the writing evaluations performed by native English speakers and native Japanese speakers who teach writing in English as a foreign language (EFL) in Japan. Subjects were 32 Japanese and 32 native English-speaking EFL instructors, divided into 2 mixed groups of equal size and proportion. One group evaluated an authentic…

The eight units of work in this document are designed to complement existing literacy booster units. Each unit is based on teaching objectives from the National Literacy Strategy Framework. They have been produced with the help of Year 5 teachers and have been trialled with pupils in a range of schools. The units support teachers' work with Year 5…

The booster lessons included in this book are designed for those children who need targeted support to secure National Curriculum Level 4 in the Key Stage 2 English tests. As the children work through 18 booster lessons, they will revisit key objectives that will help ensure that they achieve their full potential in the end-of-Key Stage 2 tests.…

Writing is one of the most complex activities children engage in during their school careers. This book provides teachers with the knowledge and ideas they need to increase their effectiveness when instructing students in writing. The book blends together practical, easy-to-implement, classroom-tested lessons and activities based on research. It…

This book sheds prescriptive teaching for listening to children. It is the work of an experienced, practicing teacher with a sound interpretation of first-grade children, giving insight and examples of children and a teacher learning together. This second edition incorporates stories from the author/educator and learning from her new experiences…