Explored relationships between middle school students' writing processes and their written products. Results suggest that students need to engage in a variety of writing tasks; teachers must be aware of the complexity involved in composing to assess progress; editing must be kept in its proper perspective; and teachers should recognize that…

Reviews studies suggesting benefits of block play for literacy development that provides actual reading and writing experiences. Suggests that block play centers can be literacy-enhanced with materials that are authentic, useful, and appropriate, including: thematic books, magazines, architectural blueprints, envelopes, and adding machine tape.…

In this study, seventh-grade students used hypermedia software, a graphics scanner, and a videodisc player to create multimedia research reports for science. Topics addressed include skill development, student and teacher opinions on time spent learning the software, student interactions, how students organized information, content-specific…

Shares how writing can be used as a primary intervention vehicle to provide for skill development, strategic thinking, and building self-esteem in a clinical setting. (MG)

An online writing center developed at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, called Calliope, provides a modular platform aimed at enhancing learners' professional writing skills in five different languages: Dutch, English, French, German, and Spanish. It supports courses in business and technical communication. The current version includes modules…

The present paper describes a project that emphasized the use of case-writing by teachers engaged in an educational innovation. The aims of the paper are threefold: to provide a somewhat detailed description of the case-writing process, to explicate the varied functions of cases and case-writing by teachers, and to discuss an important feature of…

This study investigated the effect of the portfolio assessment strategy to teach and assess writing performance of EFL third year students enrolled at the 3rd Secondary School, Skaka (Al-Jouf region). The purpose of the study was to determine whether a specific portfolio assessment model was effective in helping the students to improve their…

The study described here attempted to shed light on decision-making during first language (English) and second language (French) writing processes of French immersion program graduates. It also replicated part of a previous study on the role of first language (L1) writing skills and second language (L2) competence when writing in L2. A think-aloud…

This proceedings contains 27 articles on improving teaching and learning in higher education. The following articles are included: "Gender Differences and Faculty Work Satisfaction," (N. Beardslee, N. White, and J. Richter); "Using Your Own Student Evaluation Form for Teaching Improvement," (Y. Bhada); "Excellence in…

The aims of this paper are to: (1) illustrate a practical, collaborative methodology that helps to provide insights into teaching perspectives and practices; (2) provide information about a self-study approach that had the potential to assist educational practitioners in diverse roles and contexts develop understanding about themselves, their…

A 12-week practicum testing a method for improving writing skills and self-esteem among secondary school students learning English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) is reported. Thirteen students in a larger class at one school were identified for participation, and placed in small heterogeneous groups by skill level. Groups selected writing…

The development of written language and its functions were studied for 236 second graders (from four locations in the surrounding Birmingham, Alabama area) in 6 traditional and 6 writing process classrooms. Pen pal letters to undergraduates and written samples were obtained from three students from each class. Writing process classrooms reflect…

Intended for teachers of grades K-2, this book provides rubrics developed by and with teachers to assess a wide variety of reading and writing activities in primary classrooms. The rubrics and checklists are offered as reproducible forms. Most of the rubrics are accompanied by a matching form for children's self-assessment. Many of the assessment…

Two key parallels exist between reading and writing, each with profound implications for the teaching of these skills, and which can be adapted for the situation in Japanese high schools, where reading and writing classes are separate. First, on a theoretical level, writing and reading are cognitively similar in that they are both active and…

Focusing particularly on student writing, this book describes the principles of an interactive classroom and presents specific activities which adhere to those principles. Acknowledging that such classrooms require that the students feel comfortable with each other, the book details several activities that help to build a positive classroom…