Describes a school-wide creative writing activity for grades 1-9 in which students wrote about their teacher's (fictional) early life. (SR)

Describes how a teacher used the novella as a writing project to help students appreciate literature during their junior year. Explains how the teacher introduces the idea of the writing project and how he instructs them in the task. (TB)

Contends that since Columbine and September 11th, censorship and subtle forms of censure have begun to hinder educators in their efforts to teach creative writing. Explains that in this environment, many teachers feel the need to self-censor to keep administrators happy. Outlines the author's attempt to help students deal with contemporary events…

Notes the importance of noticing details and the precious, weird little details of neighborhoods. Uses poetry by Latin American poets to teach children and adults how to write their own poetry. Starts with basic techniques--talking, reading, discussing, and notetaking. (PA)

Relates how poetry in Spanish is used with bilingual students in elementary school and with Spanish classes in high school. States that basic ground is covered first: metaphor and simile, use of the five senses in description, and the idea of the "persona poem." Furnishes examples of poems written in English by students and translated…

Describes how the author asks students to turn off their monitors (literally and figuratively) and key into their "processors." Describes a tactile writing exercise to emphasize the sensation, the feel, that "writing with flow" generates. Notes that this experience of flow is vital to his vocation as a writer and as a writing instructor. (SG)

Details a creative writing project based on "zines," which are independently created and published personal magazines. Notes challenges addressed in the project, such as composing an engaging introduction and choice of language in relation to audience. Concludes that the students were enthusiastic about the project, and were interested…

Reviews the literature surrounding the use of personal/creative writing as an adjunct to group therapy. Several writing exercises, including a stain glass poem, personal logo, and epigram, as well as client responses, are discussed. The article concludes with suggestions for using writing with groups. (Author/TE)

Shares 12 steps to using found poetry as an introduction to a unit on poetic composition. (MG)

Stresses the importance of using imagery when having beginning writers write poetry. Discusses additional techniques of stressing the unusual, continuation words, the five senses, and repetition of a word or phrase. (MG)

This article discusses recent thoughts and findings concerning the value of creative writing for gifted students and best practices for its instruction. Discussed are a five-step plan for curriculum development, the use of literary models as keys for discussion and emulation, and the complexities of evaluating student work in such a subjective…

Describes an introductory creative writing lesson in which students gave low grades to passages they later learned were written by William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway. Reports that the students graded mainly on mechanics and grammar (and very little on content). Notes that students began to learn to manipulate the various aspects of writing. (RS)

The study compared stories written on either a word processor or handwritten by 15 children (ages 8-12) with learning disabilities. Use of the word processor resulted in fewer spelling errors for children with severe spelling problems and longer stories for children having problems with the mechanics of the writing task. (Author/DB)

Explores the nature of children's poetry. Describes an underlying mechanism activated when children engage deeply, meditate unselfconsciously, and express those meditations through the act of writing. Urges teachers to incorporate into writing instruction children's natural inclination to play. (MM)

Presents 18 writing stimulus ideas that are intended as jumping off points for student writing and are based on poems from "If I Were in Charge of the World (and other worries)" by Judith Viorst. Offers some general suggestions for using poems in the classroom. (SR)