States that the acquisition of writing skills and vocabulary building are especially important for minority students. Describes how the systematic study of prefixes, suffixes, and word roots; the generation of student-originated vocabulary lists; and special testing techniques were used for improving writing skills and building vocabulary in a…

Describes how writing instructors can aid students to become self-reflective, independent practitioners who can readily edit and proofread their own writing. Outlines numerous methods for dealing with error patterns. (HB)

Argues that proofreading should be viewed as a separate kind of writing and reading skill and that teachers of writing have not effectively trained their students how to perform this important task. Describes various strategies for teaching proofreading to students, including computer applications. (HB)

Presents two children's poems about candy, by Dorothy Aldis. The article describes a teaching unit on the poems, the poet, and her use of end rhymes. Activities include writing rhyming words, writing rhyming poems, rhyming a recipe, and creating collages. (SM)

Students (grades 7-8) with and without learning disabilities (LD) wrote stories for which a beginning, middle, end, or no prompt was given. Results indicated differences between groups in quantity and quality of story production. LD subjects scored significantly lower when offered the middle prompt than other prompts, perhaps because of their…

Various aspects of writing style are discussed to propose concrete methods for improving students' performance. Topics covered include the relationship between syntactic and cognitive complexity and classroom techniques and the reformulation technique as applied to student writing samples. (Contains 20 references.) (LB)

Describes activities that allow students to work cooperatively to analyze and study evidence from crime scenes and archaeological digs. The activities demonstrate to students the interdependence of a variety of disciplines in the real world. (ZWH)

Discusses deadline writing: preparation, researching background material, working within time constraints, and story structure. (SR)

Maintains that the process of learning to write summaries is a long one, accomplished in stages as text-related variables interact with the developing writer. Notes that students who receive direct instruction in summary writing based on their developmental level are successful. (RS)

Describes an objective, reliable method for functionally measuring cursive handwriting. Researchers assessed the sensitivity of a functional response-class definition to differentiate easy-to-read from difficult-to-read cursive handwriting. Results showed no overlap between the categories. There was small sample-to-sample variability with the…

Challenges several myths about writing assessment held by educators. Argues for the validity of assessments developed within particular environments for particular purposes agreed to by those teaching within those environments. Celebrates the lack of conformity in grading as a sign of a rich and nurturing environment for the development of writing…

A teacher-researcher provides ideas for creating a writer's workshop and encouraging written expression. Suggestions include letting the children create the room arrangement, providing a variety of writing tools, establishing a predictable writing time, becoming partners with students in the writing process, and encouraging students to be active…

Thinking about how published authors get their ideas for stories is one way for children to generate their own story ideas. The article discusses how elementary teachers can use storytelling, reading, examining picture books, and learning writing techniques to help their students select a topic. (SM)

Argues that an anthology of professional essays (because of its intellectual demands) can impede rather than facilitate mastery of basic writing skills. Suggests that the main criterion in selecting readings should be a good match between the audience assumed by the chosen texts and the actual audience in the classroom. (SR)

Reports survey results of U.S. and European aerospace engineers concerning the kinds of communication products they actually use, the kinds they produce, and recommendations they would offer designers of academic courses. Recommends relevant faculty work and educational background, advisory boards, professional contacts, research, and feedback as…