Describes a literature unit in which students write stories about imaginary characters after they have heard and discussed several narratives. (DD)

Discusses the ways in which children's writing benefits when children read good books. (DD)

The major flaw in students' writing, inappropriate and inaccurate repetition, is also the major flaw of the mass media. (DD)

Describes the effectiveness of grammar, punctuation, and spelling review sessions in improving journalism students' writing. (KS)

Asks whether journalism educators overlook the importance of honing basic newsgathering skills and if they encourage development of judgment beyond what newsroom situations dictate. Advocates teaching basic skills, such as grammar and punctuation, in introductory newswriting courses; and increasing students' general knowledge, critical thinking,…

Surveys experienced Certified Public Accountants to examine their perceptions of the written language skills of entry-level accountants. Finds that written language fundamentals in word selection and usage, sentence and paragraph construction, and grammar and mechanics remain a problem for entry-level accountants. Notes the value of these findings…

Argues that the standards by which literacy is judged have gone up, which produces the impression that schools are doing worse than they have in the past when in fact they are doing well. Examines a cross section of studies and data. (TB)

States that 20 children ages 5 and 6 were observed attempting to write a letter alone and with their mothers' assistance. Finds that children produced more sophisticated products with adult mediation, using conventional spelling, writing longer messages, and using more details such as punctuation. Concludes that mothers had a sense of the…

Presents a way to develop reading, writing, and critical thinking skills through a multicultural book club for culturally diverse prison inmates. (Contains 31 references.) (Author/JOW)

Describes the development of a workshop that provides a rich writing program while meeting state-mandated test requirements. Based on a whole language approach, the writing workshop emphasizes five stages of the writing process (pre- writing, rough draft writing, peer editing, teacher editing, and publishing). The program merges writing processes…

Reports on a study that found that both first-language summarizing skills and second language proficiency affect second language summarizing skills, with the exception of inclusion of main ideas and amount of distortion that are more affected by first language summarizing skills. (Author/VWL)

Examines the importance of a working knowledge of the mechanics of the English language to good professional journalistic writing. Finds that newspaper editors judge reporters on their writing mechanics, expressive skills, and journalistic abilities. Finds that reporters judge themselves accordingly. Finds that English majors scored better than…

Examines the relationship between handwriting speed and the syntactic complexity of the finished piece of writing. Reports that findings support previous research that describes differences in syntax of basic and traditional writers. Concludes that writing teachers should encourage college students to write rapidly as they draft their pieces. (MM)

Introduces semantic mapping as a method of helping students improve their outlining skills for composition. Provides a step-by-step process for teaching semantic outlining. (SR)