To determine students' thought processes as they are writing, over 100 secondary school English students periodically were asked a set of questions immediately after an in-class writing activity, when they were most in touch with their own experiences. Questions were: (1) What things happen to you when you write? (2) What things concerning writing…

Training of teaching assistants (TAs) in the Writing Program at the University of Massachusetts is described. Training prepares TAs for the responsibility of being the primary class instructors who design the curriculum, teach, and evaluate students with minimal supervision. Training sessions consist of an orientation workshop at the beginning of…

This longitudinal research examines the development of literacy skills in the context of an educational microcomputer implementation conducted to evaluate word processors and LOGO as tools for cognitive enrichment. Three classes including 87 children in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada are being followed from first- through third-grade. One…

"Lifewriting" provides a different model for the school composition class, a model that changes the traditional images of the student and teacher at work. Lifewriting--the composing of personal stories, anecdotes, and memoirs--has a beneficial effect in that while it begins with personal expression, the dynamics of the lifewriting group…

Using the findings of two studies of the home environments of children who are successful at reading at young ages, this paper suggests ways in which early childhood classrooms can create environments that promote literacy growth and provide children with an appropriate background and interest for later successful experiences in learning to read…

This report argues for and illustrates an approach to the study of writing in school settings that integrates ethnographic analysis of classroom interaction with linguistic analysis of written texts and teacher/student conversational exchanges. The report explores the relationships among classroom contexts, computer-based innovations, writing…

A three-year study examined the efficacy of microcomputers in the teaching of writing in the regular school classroom and combined experimental and observational methods to develop a model of effective application of computers to the eighth-grade writing skills situation. Divided into control, mixed, and experimental classes, 281 students in six…

This handbook combines the experience and advice of pioneers in computer-enhanced instruction in colleges and high schools across the United States and documents the scope of the problem of teacher access to training by describing the results of a survey of teacher educators conducted in November 1985. The first section of the book describes 12…

This report gives updated information on two literacy programs sponsored by the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). The report is in two sections. The first section briefly summarizes findings from studies around the United States of "Writing to Read," (WTR), the K-1 reading/writing program developed by John Henry Martin.…

In an effort to actively engage students in writing and introduce them to more rigorous texts and assignments, the first-year literature/composition course at Nassau Community College (New York) was modified. The primary change consisted of the teacher participating in all classroom and take-home writing assignments. In addition, texts by authors…

A college writing teacher relates his experiences in teaching writing to a group of Japanese undergraduates with a process-oriented curriculum. The narrative and analysis are based on the teacher's journal record of the 10-week course. The narrative focuses on the investigation of the curriculum's implementation, the teacher's reaction to the use…

The Introductory Writing Programs developed for freshman students at Northeastern University are described in this document. The introduction outlines the programs' philosophy, which is based on the notion that all writers are developing writers regardless of their ability. The second section looks at how students are placed in either Freshman…

Essays on the use of journal writing in the classroom are presented in four sections: the language of speculation, journals in the teaching of English, the arts and humanities, and the quantitative disciplines. Titles and authors are as follows: (1) "Dialectical Notebooks and the Audit of Meaning" (A. E. Berthoff); (2) "Desert…

This study investigated the discourse elements that teachers focus on in teaching French to multiethnic groups, and examined the extent to which teachers take into account the different cultural backgrounds of these students. Data are derived primarily from the observation of videotaped classroom activities. The subjects in the study were students…

In a workplace literacy program designed by the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen and the International Masonry Institute, the basic skills of 615 participants were assessed in mathematics, reading, writing, presentation, listening-responding, and problem-solving at sites in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York. Available data…