This review, with profiles of 51 available writing/language usage tests from most major test publishing companies, provides technical information on the tests, the evolution of test characteristics, the tests' role as writing samples, and issues in psychometric quality. Published objective writing tests are changing in important and positive ways.…

Describes how two objectives--enhancing public relations thinking and producing an attractive showpiece of writing talent for the student--form the basis of a course in public relations at the University of Florida. (HOD)

A teacher of writing offers suggestions for improving student composition. (FL)

Discusses a variation of sentence combining exercises that involves separating whole paragraphs into sentences and fragments and asking writing students to put the constituents back together. (AEA)

Discusses an introductory lecture that defines the similarities between sales letters and application letters for business communication students. (AEA)

Presents outlines and objectives of two inservice, eight-week seminars on effective writing and oral presentation designed for an engineering firm. (AEA)

Presents exercises combining sentence generation from prescribed conjunctions with analysis of literary characters. (MM)

Analyzes the composing processes of three children, aged two to four, as they composed with a responsible adult in a group setting. (HOD)

Discusses requirements in a business communication course that force students to become responsible for correct spelling. (AEA)

This study investigates the construct validity of profiles of high school students' (n=92) writing competence obtained from tasks designed to be parallel on all dimensions but discourse mode (expository or narrative) and response mode (direct or indirect). (Author/PN)

Describes a unit in which gothic novels are first read and then used by students as models for the writing of an entire "gothic" novel of their own. (JL)

Discusses the benefits of precis writing and suggests specific tasks to develop that skill. (AEA)

Encourages using media production to help students gain greater maturity in both their spoken and written skills. (AEA)

Describes a "change of feeling" writing exercise, in which seventh graders learned to love bats and to write at the same time. (JL)

Presents five individual lesson plans to help elementary students progress through the writing process, from establishing a climate for writing through observing to rewriting, polishing, and mechanics. Each lesson includes a reproducible letter to involve parents in their child's writing. Part two of this article will appear in February 1982.…