Argues that the metaphor of writing as cognitive mapping can serve not as a basis for a new model or theory of writing, but as an attitudinal guide for concerns with writing and instruction. Notes that the term "cognitive mapping" suggests that the mental world can be seen metaphorically as a physical world. (RS)

Three groups of 26 people each (low-literate adults, ninth graders, and sixth graders) wrote on any topic whereas an observer noted their behavior and later discussed their writing. Although the writing behavior of adults was more like that of sixth graders, adults tended to be less efficient. Ninth graders' behavior was considered a prototype.…

Discusses self-examination as a prerequisite to authorship. Defines the soliloquy as an internal question-and-answer exchange enabling the thinker to distinguish better ideas from worse. Argues that use of the soliloquy develops in the student writer a voice of authority. Identifies the soliloquy as a device for exploring values. (SG)

Four principles are presented for teaching children, across age and grade levels, to write and enjoy writing: interrelating literature and writing, teaching writing as an intellectual rather than a mechanical process, emphasizing process over product, and teaching writing as a holistic process rather than a set of isolated skills. (PB)

Shares an account of one student's writing journal and how he developed as a writer. (MG)

Examines the transitions that writers (college seniors enrolled in a 12-week corporate internship program) make when moving from academic to professional discourse communities. Reports a consistent pattern of expectation, frustration, and accommodation as writers adjust to their new writing communities. (MM)

Examines traditional teacher expectations of and reactions to student writing, considers writing as the mental process it involves, and explores one method of involving students in editing their own work. It is concluded that when students realize teachers read their writing to understand what they are saying, they write more interestingly. (25…

Describes three approaches for having students compose music to improve music education. Approaches include: (1) teacher-guided class composition; (2) small-group composition; and (3) individual free composition. As skills develop, students are motivated to learn to read, notate, and play their music. (LS)

Emphasizes that composition teachers can create exercises fitted to the current psychological or process perspective on learning (freewriting, drafting, revision) by adding to classical or product perspective (copying, summarizing, paraphrasing, translating, amplifying) the elements of rhetorical purpose and sense of context and community. (RS)

Describes "Plausible Stories," an activity which uses creative writing and story predictions to help teachers exploit the interactive nature of the processes of reading and writing. (MS)

Examines materials designed to improve children's writing or composition abilities. Focuses on whether the materials have students use the task/strategy/skill in such a way that they can transfer the task to other materials in reading or writing situations that serve a real function. (MG)

Proposes a model for building the self-concept or self-esteem of students through carefully designed writing assignments that emphasize persona. Includes four writing assignments. (RAE)

Suggests techniques from Peter Elbow's book, "Writing with Power," for an advertising copywriting class. Describes in detail an eight-step procedure: warm-up, loop writing, sharing, revision, sharing, revision, editing group sharing, and revision. (MS)

Suggests that English teachers use sports metaphors as a different way to communicate with their students about writing. (MS)

Urges the use of claims-based analysis in editorial writing instruction. Explains the use of five hierarchical claim types (factual, definitional, causal, value, and policy) to teach students to analyze and formulate arguments, thus teaching editorial writing by focusing more on the process than on the product. (SR)