A practicum was developed to determine whether the motivation of a private school's ninth grade English class (18 students) could be increased by gearing the course toward a specified, authentic public audience and whether an increase in motivation would positively affect the quality of and attitude toward writing assignments and the use of…

Compiled by a classroom teacher for classroom teachers, this book presents over 75 activities and over 140 associated worksheets designed to implement the process approach to writing in the fourth through eighth grade classroom. The book notes that process writing provides the student not only with a "recipe" for writing, but also with two…

In a freshman composition course, the teacher attempted to motivate student interest in writing by assigning biographical readings and fiction that felt like real life. In reading the books, students found topics for writing about their own lives. During the first class session, students were given the topic "The Story of My Life: A…

To prepare students to live in a diverse world, writing teachers must create a non-threatening environment in their classrooms and introduce the issues of race, ethnicity, and class in reading and writing assignments. One assignment that a writing teacher used successfully both in a writing workshop course for less proficient writers and in a…

Basic algebra at Robert Morris College (RMC) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a remedial course for students with virtually no algebra background, and for students whose previous experiences with algebra have created math blocks and math anxiety. A study was conducted in an effort to measure quantitatively the benefits of using linguistic methods…

Composition classes at East Georgia College, a two-year college in the University System of Georgia, use some literature and literary discussions without compromising the "integrity" of the composition course. Cultural backgrounds of students are similar--most come from non-reading homes, and some say they have never read a whole book.…

In 1983, Charles County Community College (CCCC) initiated a project to infuse academic information from the sciences, humanities, and social sciences into developmental courses. The reorganization assignments related to 27 topics that promoted academic examination and cultural literacy while at the same time drawing from students' own…

Everyone sees through advertisements, yet no one is immune from their appeal. In a writing class the students were able to look at ads without being injured or seduced by them, but doubted that others could do the same. It is important to encourage students to discuss what they actually think about writings rather than what they are supposed to…

This booklet outlines the California state guidelines for writing which assert that students should be carefully taught to read and compose many types of discourse to prepare them for higher education, the job market, and citizenship in democracy. The booklet summarizes the purposes for which the California Assessment Program (CAP) was developed,…

First year writing students were asked which kinds of writing they enjoyed, and why. Their responses indicate a preference for "creative" writing, where "creative" is defined as "personal." The students in the research sample reacted against a form of knowing that requires them to place more emphasis on objects (human…

In recognition that remedial writing students, regardless of age, are accustomed to failure in written English, instructors of Glen Oaks Community College's developmental writing classes emphasize positive attitudes and activities, students' responsibility for their success or failure, and positive and reassuring instructor attitudes. The writing…

This practicum was designed to address the problem of low quantity and poor quality of writing in two lower level English classes (50 students). The objectives were to increase motivation for writing, thereby improving overall writing production by the students. A writing workshop was designed to improve the motivation of the students by…

A study evaluated the effectiveness of an Instructional Television Program (ITV) designed to model and teach aspects of process writing to second-grade children. Two second-grade teachers and their students (each class contained 24 children) comprised the experimental groups; one second-grade teacher and 24 students comprised the control group.…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to writing for a variety of academic and technical purposes, situations, and…

Based on Charles Dickens' novel "Great Expectations," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand the differences between totalitarianism and democracy; and a that a writer of a story considers theme, plot, characters, setting, and point of view. The main activity of the lesson involves students working in groups to…