Based on the idea that a personal history is a gift to share and can restore the connection between generations, this book is animated by the belief that life has value and knowledge for others. The book traces the writing process of producing a personal history with supportive coaching, stimulating questions, shared memories, and evocative…

"Inkshedding" grew out of a process of trying to make "freewriting" into something dialogically transactional. The idea was to give writing a social role in a classroom, and thus to create a situation in which the writing was read by real readers, to understand and respond to what was said rather than to evaluate and "help" with the writing. In…

A newly-hired faculty member at the State University of New York at Cortland began a Faculty Writing Group that met every other week to discuss their writing projects and progress. What he expected was that the members would sustain themselves as writers via the newly established Faculty Writing Group. What he did not expect was that the Faculty…

Taking the mystery out of how skilled writers think, this book shares some practical tips on how to make prose more readable. It also examines some common questions about punctuation, quoting, usage issues, and stylistic taboos. The book is geared to those writers who have already been through the "textbook mill and who now hunger for helpful…

Interactive writing is a term coined by a research group of faculty members from the Ohio State University and teachers from the Columbus Public Schools. The group examined Moira McKenzie's (1985) work in shared writing and adopted the approach as having power in helping children understand the writing process. They varied the approach with a…

The issue of personal writing is hotly contested in composition studies. Some believe that personal writing has no place in academic writing. In a discussion with Peter Elbow regarding personal versus academic writing, David Bartholomae argues that "academic writing is the real work of the academy." Elbow, on the other hand, argues that…

Addresses these questions in terms of the adult learner: (1) what is the relationship between writing and learning? (2) is the decline in writing skills a particular problem for the adult learner? (3) can writing be used as a teaching method to enhance learning? and (4) what are the implications for the adult educator? (JOW)

Argues that, like making stew, there is more than one sequential writing process, and that while one cannot discern the process by examining the product, the product (or purpose) cannot help but shape the processes. (HTH)

Reviews Emig's methodology, highlighting both the timeliness of her study, and the flaws in her generalizations about writing teachers' expertise. Cautions against depending upon her results and those of similar studies, as the final word on the writing process. (HTH)

Explores the similar and different ways that reading and writing influence consciousness. Summarizes the relationship between reading and writing as meditation--a way of modifying inner speech or composing in the mind. (HTH)

Discusses research on the nature and strategies of children's invented spelling, including a developmental model of such spelling. Suggests ways to encourage invented spelling, while examining whether it will interfere with learning to read and write standard spelling. (HTH)

Outlines the stages of the composing process, differentiating between those of skilled and unskilled writers. Provides a list of suggestions for elementary school writing instruction. (HTH)

Examines the changes in the successive attempts by E. B. White to complete the manuscript for "Charlotte's Web." (HOD)

Examines the reading and writing processes and their interdependence and urges the language arts instructor to be an audience for children's writing and to help them become aware that what they read is someone else's writing. (HTH)

Discusses length and speed, spontaneity, and discipline as the attributes that affect creative writing assignments, students' development as creative writers, and appropriate methods of teaching creative writing. (RL)