Presents activities based on readings from ChemEcology that incorporate student writing with thinking skills as part of a reading/writing portfolio. Helps students to develop a broader understanding of chemistry, the chemical industry, and the environment. (JRH)

Describes and categorizes the ways in which first graders (two good and two poor spellers) used and talked about their spelling knowledge during a formal spelling test and an informal writing activity. Results suggested three categories of spelling knowledge: developmental stage spelling knowledge, suggested by written spellings; verbalized…

A project involving a local grant-funded anthology of university English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) student writing is reported. Benefits to the students are described, and it is concluded that students valued the pride of authorship more than their improved writing skills. (13 references) (LB)

Paper discusses the pros and cons of college students using the first person singular pronoun in writing and discussion, emphasizing the need to find a balance between the use of the words "I" and "they" and to teach students critical reflection, analysis, sharing, and listening skills. (SM)

Connecting students to reading and writing means connecting them to real-world readers and writers. Writers' Day at one Pennsylvania middle school was established to bring regular working professionals (not authors or poets) from the community to school to share how writing is used in their professional and personal lives. All participants…

Examined the words used by 20 mothers and 20 nonmothers to describe the writing and drawing products of preschool children. Found that mothers were more likely than nonmothers to identify the products using the same label as the child, but found no difference between the groups in the use of the terms "writing" and "drawing"…

Describes a pen-pal association "Write Partners" sponsored by the Family Literacy Center at Indiana University which promotes letter writing between "juniors" and "seniors," that is, children and grandparents. Explains its advantages in creating a bond between children and adults, promoting literacy, and encouraging…

Provides teaching tips on how children can be helped to become better readers and writers of nonfiction. Notes that there are many kinds of nonfiction writing, serving different purposes and audiences. Suggests that students be taught strategies for reading nonfiction, which may help them with their writing of nonfiction. Recommends including…

States that teachers who view themselves as writers experience the same sort of mental changes that regular writers do. Explains that attitudes about writing change, and higher interest in all things relating to writing increases. Argues that keeping a portfolio of writings is beneficial in the development of writing skills, even in writing…

Reports on research that showed that preformal-operational fourth graders could indeed benefit from classroom writing instruction on the higher-order skill of persuasive writing. (SR)

Describes a set of metadiscourse functions arising from the use of contrastive and non-contrastive expressions in academic argumentation. Describes interpersonal metadiscourse functions of connectives within argumentative essays. Proposes that interpersonal uses of connectives mitigate counterclaims and emphasize claims based on the assumed roles…

Assessment information can help school improvement teams focus the direction of improvement and specify action plans. A fishbone diagram can help identify contributing factors within four areas (educators, students, curriculum, and organization). An example from one middle school that used the diagram to improve students' writing assessment scores…

A discussion of undergraduate student essays suggests that students can improve quality by concentrating on the rhetorical effects of their writing. Results of a study conducted across six academic departments indicate that rhetorical organization is significantly influenced by departmental conventions. (29 references) (Author/LB)

Explicates issues related to teaching, evaluating, and remediating handwriting, via a case study. States that children with handwriting problems need empathy, understanding, early identification, and remedial assistance. (SR)

Presents a computer-assisted activity that helps students discover the importance of choosing words carefully. With a word processing program, small groups of students prepare creative, fill-in-the-blank challenges in which classmates must replace missing adjectives or verbs. (SM)