Describes a three-part assignment in which each student writes a complaint letter and an adjustment letter responding to another student's complaint letter. Discusses how the third part of the assignment--journal entries--allows students to formulate their own criteria for excellent letters based upon their reactions to the letters they receive.…

Describes a research assignment that enables students to recognize the context of a document, extract the document's message, and determine its usefulness. Suggests possible warm-up activities for this assignment. (MM)

Describes the first problem raised in an interactive case on communication taken from Dennis Moberg and David Caldwell's text "Interactive Cases in Organizational Behavior." Demonstrates a wrong and a right answer to this problem, and shows how the author developed writing assignments to supplement the solutions to the problems raised in…

Describes the participation of the Criminal Justice Department at Southeast Missouri State University in the campus Writing across the Curriculum program. Makes practical suggestions for assignments designed to enhance writing skills without adding new burdens for the faculty. (SR)

Describes how an English teacher used journal writing and how it improved the quality of the other writing his students did. Discusses specific journal writing assignments and details ways to help students maintain their journal writing. (RS)

Suggests that an effective way to develop students' writing abilities is to teach writing through journalism. Discusses the successes the author has had in incorporating journalistic writing strategies into elementary and secondary English/language arts classrooms. (RS)

Describes an assignment that introduces students to argument through a collaborative process of data collection and problem solving. States that the goal of the assignment is to build students' confidence in their ability to apply the kinds of thinking and writing strategies they will need to succeed in college. (PRA)

Presents three activities that use literature as a springboard for the study of history/social science and as a prompt for original writing. (SR)

Describes a first-day assignment for writing courses called a "writing autobiography" in which the student is asked to identify and assess their own strengths and weaknesses as writers. Argues for the value of having students consider their processes as writers. (HB)

Describes a method of including students into a community of readers through which they are encouraged to respond individually to literary texts. Shows how writing prompts can be used in the classroom to foster reader response and the integrity of each reader's interpretation of a text. (HB)

Offers 2 favorite writing activities for the computer lab: (1) students write about 100 words of the beginning and end of a favorite fiction book, while another student fills in the middle; and (2) students choose from 1 of 3 plot twists, write at least 5 sentences, and then write 3 more plot twists for the next student. (SR)

Presents an evaluation method for written assignments in which students develop an evaluation checklist. (SR)

Describes a writing assignment (intended to counter some students'"writing is irrelevant" attitude) in which students write resumes and letters of application that are reviewed by personnel officers of "real world" corporations. (SR)

Describes a dual grading process for business writing assignments, initiated to expose students to collaborative evaluation and to verify instructor evaluation. Maintains that receiving feedback from both teacher and students reinforce students' confidence in the evaluation process while teaching them about audience expectations. (SR)

Describes a cross-disciplinary research paper assignment in which students engage in original research and interview an expert before researching in the library. (SR)