The Basics Skills English 100 course at Slippery Rock University, having changed from a traditional approach to an approach that reflects knowledge gained through research about the needs of basic writers, shows the progress basic writers can make in a summer program. Thirty students met six times a week for five weeks in one-and-a-half hour…

This paper, as an illustration of the procedures involved in a cooperative effort, describes a project in which the Southwest Regional Laboratory (SWRL) designed and developed a minimum standards test in collaboration with a large urban school district in California. The activity described focuses on the writing sample included in the test. The…

Designed for college freshman composition classes, this guide describes a writing assignment for teaching students to write a formal review of a favorite children's book. The book analysis worksheet serves as a springboard for questions and a vehicle for teaching persuasive discourse, the business of publishing, the organization of libraries, the…

Pointing out that teachers and supervisors need to study, analyze, and synthesize diverse issues in the teaching of handwriting, this paper explores several relevant issues. The following issues are discussed: (1) whether handwriting ought to be taught as a separate subject; (2) the conflict between the behaviorism approach--which utilizes precise…

Intended for teachers and administrators, this collection of essays focuses on the dual meaning of practice--practice of writing skills, and teaching practices in composition instruction. The process section focuses on the types of activities that build composition skills. The product and program sections shift focus to professional practice, the…

A pilot essay was included in the 1985 Spring and Fall administrations of the Medical College Admission Test. A sample of 320 of the essays written by Fall examinees who had expressed an interest in allopathic medicine was used to calculate interrater reliability estimates. Sixteen of 20 readers who had been trained by White's suggestions for…

Designed to help teachers in writing programs collaborate to reach a consensus on grading standards for freshman essays, the "Buddy System" was instituted on a voluntary basis at a Pennsylvania college with an English department with a traditional literature orientation. To participate, the instructors were required: (1) to choose at…

A case can be made for teachers to use audience-oriented teaching strategies that encourage children to write for a wide range of readers. Even so, questions remain about how writers, especially student writers, actually learn to consider an audience of readers when they write. Research suggests that a developmental trend exists in which children…

Developed to provide teachers with a framework for writing instruction, this handbook presents the objectives for writing in the elementary schools from kindergarten through grade 8. After a brief overview of the handbook, information covered includes: (1) a description of writing types (creative expression, narration, exposition, persuasion, and…

Research suggests that students make judgments about writing at a very early age, but their interpretations of what makes writing good or bad differs in important ways from those of teachers or professional writers. An understanding of how children's evaluative criteria develop is critical to teachers in helping children become better writers.…

Following an introduction by James Britton, this book discusses the attitudes and values giving rise to effective writing instruction. The seven chapters examine the following topics: (1) achieving a philosophical perspective on composing through awareness of how writers actually work; (2) assumptions underlying classical rhetoric; (3) writing as…

Intended for elementary school teachers in all subject areas wanting to learn more about what is known concerning the teaching of writing, this book summarizes numerous presentations made over the past four years by the many teacher/consultants working with the Bay Area Writing Project. Following introductory materials, the first section of the…

In order to encourage teachers to allow students to explore and discover larger patterns in their work, including their mental growth beyond their immediate performance, this paper recommends the philosophy of Gregory Bateson as a teaching approach. The first principle considered in the paper is that a mental process requires circular or more…

Interpreting Aristotle's criteria for persuasive writing--ethos, logos, and pathos--as a concern for writer, language, and audience creates both an effective model for persuasive writing and a structure around which to organize discussions of relevant rhetorical issues. Use of this heuristic to analyze writing style, organization, and content…

Teachers can use a variety of techniques to help students learn to manage the writing process of generating ideas, writing, and revising material. To assist students in developing their ideas about a topic, acquiring additional information, and integrating new information with previous ideas--all part of the generating phase--teachers can give…