Two studies, involving 11 teachers and 195 gifted students, found that interactive writing between teachers and gifted students can promote collaborative learning. Teachers did not spontaneously journal with students in ways most conducive to this mode of learning but learned to use interactive, collaborative discourse functions when shown proper…

Describes the difficulties of teaching a reading class in a prison. Emphasizes the importance of sharing and of teaching based on democratic principles. Shows how using collaboration, perspective sharing, and children's literature helped to bond the class. Concludes that teaching inside a prison is different from teaching in a regular institution,…

Gives advice for first-year English teachers. Advocates keeping a journal of daily activities, meeting regularly with other teachers, and asking lots of questions. (HB)

Making classroom materials relevant to students is paramount for one Missouri high school English teacher. Since a relevant curriculum needs more than short stories and essays, she has incorporated books like Ngugi Wa Thiong'o's "Weep Not, Child," Kamala Markandaya's "Nectar in a Sieve," and Charles Dickens's "Tale of Two…

After a brief discussion of discovery writing, several types of writing activities are suggested that can enhance learning and critical thinking. They include free writes, journals, electronic dialogue, collaborative writing assignments, and class newsletters. (LB)

Describes using published journals and books written by adolescents to spark seventh graders' journal writing. (SR)

Explores the expressive forms of writing (diaries, journals, "freewrites," and responsive logs) of students. Examines gender as an important component of the social and political framework in which students learn about genres of writing. (RS)

Outlines a method for teaching kindergarten students to model and write journal entries. Discusses also responding to the entries, assessment, the writing environment, and parent involvement. (PRA)

A cooperative project in which deaf elementary school students practiced writing with undergraduate deaf education majors through the use of dialogue journals and "scaffolding" (active interaction between skilled and unskilled learners) found the techniques effective in improving the students' content, form, and use of written language. (CB)

Describes a teacher's experience with a research paper assignment in which the project remained in the students' hands from start to finish. Notes the students' reactions to the project, and the teacher's struggle to redefine her role. Discusses the students' follow-up journals and some of the surprises along the way. (PRA)

Describes reading response journals and discusses how and when they can be used to help students foster their ability to connect literature with their own lives and increase comprehension. (MG)

Explores journal writing exchanges through the observations of a classroom teacher and a college professor as their students connected with one another in an authentic literary experience. Offers four suggestions for helping a journal exchange to proceed smoothly. (MG)

Teachers can gradually develop the emotional and interpersonal infrastructure of their classroom communities through a creative program encouraging youngsters to write all the time and read to each other what they have written. The writing process involves four steps: brainstorming ideas, writing the rough draft, polishing the final draft, and…

Reports on the experience of an education professor teaching U.S. history to secondary students in Japan. Lists five basic pedagogical principles derived from the experience. (CFR)

Pairs of Illinois elementary teachers (previously enrolled in a language arts cooperative development project) formed a partner system involving communication via shared journals to reduce isolation during a staff development project. Participants found the shared journals very effective in sustaining collegiality. The article notes five…