Working with first-year students at Purdue University, the author, a composition instructor, joined efforts with librarian Alexius Smith-Macklin to explore the efficacy of a collaborative approach to freshman writing instruction at the university level. Combining expertise from the Purdue programs of English education, theory and cultural studies,…

This article describes the implementation of one element of an adapted language arts curriculum for Deaf students in a bilingual (American Sign Language and English) educational setting. It examines the implementation of writing workshops in three elementary classrooms in a school for Deaf students. The typical steps of preparing/planning,…

On the first day of English composition, students unleash a torrent of reasons why writing scared them as they write their opening day personal autobiographies. Most comments focus on reasons that have little to do with the craft or complexities of great writing. Numerous students bemoan their use of "substandard" English, thinking that their ways…

This article examines, in a variety of ways, the concept of identity and presents reports and views from regional representatives of the Two-Year College English Association on the issue of identity in the classroom. Reporting from TYCA-Northeast, Marsha Nourse echoes some dismay as she relates chance meetings with students. Elissa Caruth from…

In higher education, issues of "in loco parentis" have been most often discussed in connection with campus administrative policies. College writing teachers need to reflect, however, on the ways they conceivably exercise parental authority in their own classrooms, through such models as the Stern Father and the Nurturing Mother. (Contains 26…

This article addresses the debate on college literacy achievement by focusing on teacher education students. In addition to acquiring the academic tools for teaching, many of those students might need to remediate their literacy gaps while mastering graduate-level academic writing skills. This study inquired into variables that might help predict…

Writing behaviors of grade 1 children were explored as they used word processors to support their writing. Information was gathered in the form of field notes and audiotape transcripts from classroom observation sessions, along with informal interviews with students and teachers. Themes which emerged from the data analysis suggested a combination…

In this article, the author reviews the research on young children's emerging writing and presents a comprehensive synthesis of this research on emergent writing. She discusses children's early writing knowledge; writing skills development; the social process of learning to write; teacher support; and a supportive environment. She also lists six…

Classrooms are filled with students with confident and vibrant voices, and most educators encourage them to use these voices in their writing. Many of the strategies of the process-centered classroom (peer editing, conferences, workshops, in-house publishing) also encourage students to write in real voices to real readers; however, there is still…

Television commercials and print ads have proven to be an effective means of introducing composition students to strategies for analysis and writing. They rely heavily on the eye to interpret images quickly according to fairly reliable habits. They are naturally occurring forms of argument and students have substantial intuitive competence with…

The academic setting for many students is frightening, but it is especially so for students with a strong religious background. For such students, the academic atmosphere is, at best, not neutral but empty of teachers and classes that would encourage them to deepen their religious resources. In a "Point of View" essay in the "Chronicle of Higher…

Encouraging teachers of middle and secondary school students to learn to write using their own folklore, each chapter in this book presents a 1- to 3-week unit of study including background information, student activities, transcripts of discussions, and suggested readings for both teachers and students. After an introduction (Knowing Our Insides…

"Voice" has become a dangerous term. It has tended to imply romanticism, expressionism, and individualism--dangerous things. There are, however, two safe or prudent thoughts that can be expressed about voice and writing and four dangerous or adventuresome thoughts. The first point is that the choice between the use of terms such as text…

Noting that most children enter school with a natural interest in writing, this digest discusses how elementary school teachers can become actively involved in teaching creative writing to their students. The digest considers several reasons for teaching creative writing, provides practical suggestions from other teachers about teaching story…

For one instructor, the thought that introducing hypertext into a writing class would immediately revolutionize that environment proved to be naive. The cautions issued by some academics--that hypertext may "disempower" student writers, took on a real urgency in his class. At this point, there are a number of paradigms already…