To assess the effectiveness of an approach to writing designed to capitalize on the relationship between oral and written composition, 60 sixth graders used tape recorders during the pre-writing period to organize and then play back their ideas, while a second group of 60 sixth graders used a more conventional composition approach and recorded…

Twenty instructors from eight junior college districts, meeting at a workshop sponsored by the League for Innovation in the Community College, developed this research paradigm for teachers of English composition in 2-year colleges. A systematic method of inquiry is described first, including (1) the rationale for deliberate inquiry, (2) methods of…

The primary purpose of this study, conducted in four junior high schools, was to investigate the possibility of improvement in spelling by second semester ninth-grade typing students through the use of spelling drills. A 75-lesson spelling plan based on research and psychological principles of learning was developed for use with the typewriter.…

The effect of two methods of reading instruction on the spelling achievement of first-grade students was investigated. Ten first-grade classes received reading instruction utilizing the Language Experience Approach (LEA) and 11 received instruction utilizing the Basal Reader Approach (BRA). One spelling list of 40 phonologically regular words and…

An evaluation of compositions written by 375 disadvantaged high school sophomores from New York City showed that these students achieved Picture Story Language Test (PSLT) scores which were higher in productivity, lower on syntax quotient, and approximately equivalent on the abstract-concrete dimension, as compared with the population upon which…

The overhead projector, used as a controllable blackboard or bulletin board in the teaching of writing, extends the range of teaching techniques so that an instructor may (1) prepare, in advance, handwritten sheets of film--test questions, pupils' sentences, quotations, short poems--to be shown in any order or form; (2) use pictures, graphics, or…

A game based on Parker Brothers'"Monopoly" provides a teaching device which helps technical writing students learn to arrange their scientific knowledge logically so that their report conclusions seem inevitable. Each of eight previously written reports is divided into four segments which are then substituted for the properties on the game board.…

In order to increase their writing effectiveness, junior high school students are required to write three drafts of an essay. There are no corrections on the first draft, but a numerical code is placed in the margin to point out any errors in mechanics or problems with content which might be eliminated. Students are given a dittoed copy of…

Written to encourage imaginative approaches to teaching writing, this paper contains ideas for developing writing skills by encouraging creative writing, formal analysis, and criticism despite the traditional lack of literary analysis in the creative writing classroom. In addition to including teaching techniques for practicing literary skills…

One of a series prepared by the Hawaii Newspaper Agency, this teaching guide offers ideas on using the daily newspaper to teach vocabulary and writing to students on any level. Suggestions include using a "word of the week" to teach word meanings, uses, and roots as well as how words can be used in a sentence; listing vocabulary words on bulletin…

The guide offers suggestions and techniques for teaching creative writing to gifted upper elementary school students. Fifteen characteristics of the creative teacher introduce the subject. Approaches are offered for developing the creative writing tools: words, imagery, figures of speech, sound devices, and parts of speech. Story writing is said…

This study identified reasons to believe that one particular way of teaching writing is theoretically sound; explicated the use theory of meaning; defined a theory of rhetoric which was compatible with the use theory; presented a set of beliefs about the nature of thought and about how the mind learns; and presented exemplary classroom activities…

Instructions for preparation of abstracts associated with processing information for the retrieval system of the Michigan State University Regional Instructional Materials Center for Handicapped Children and Youth are given in the manual. An abstract is described as a summary of a written work's content which must provide information that both…

The purposes of this investigation were: (1) to analyze the critical writing achievement and the critical thinking achievement of groups of students of various abilities who received instruction in general semantics with similar groups of students who did not, (2) to determine if instruction in general semantics was equally effective for all…

This investigation developed a procedure for scoring English compositions that would be simple enough for use by junior college instructors with minimal statistical assistance, and still yield data that would allow sound inferences regarding student placement procedures and assessment of instructional effects. Twenty-one instructors from 14 junior…