Describes a technical writing class assignment in which students read reviews published in journals of their professions, emulate the style of those published reviews, and submit a review of their own to a journal. Suggests sources of new books to review and provides an annotated bibliography. (MKM)

Describes a revised media writing course (required of all journalism majors) at Texas A&M University. States that it meets "scholarship" and "centrality" issues in nine ways: communication theory, personal skills, critical thinking, writing about writing, thematic organization, coaching writing, critiques and revisions,…

Suggests two ways to make grading of writing easier, fairer, more helpful to students: first, using minimal grades or fewer levels of quality, and, second, using criteria that spell out the features of good writing sought in the assignment. Discusses minimal grading techniques in contexts of low-stakes writing, high-stakes writing, the final…

Examines a set of problems presented by the rapid growth of composition programs, including the apprehension many graduate students feel about the future. Argues that "professional development" ought to live at the center of a program, and that programs need to learn how to be accountable to students. (TB)

Describes how, as a result of the Rivers Curriculum Project (an interdisciplinary program using river environmental themes and coordinating activities in several disciplines), students in a high school English class wrote and illustrated children's books, shared those story books with young children, and shared their story books at the yearly…

Notes that it is not unusual for writing teachers to place "religion" on lists of forbidden subject matter. Describes a two-year research project that developed and tested a pedagogy for responding to the unique problems that composition instructors face when intellectually and rhetorically unsophisticated religious texts do cross their desks. (RS)

Focuses on female teachers of writing to examine the relationship between female writing teachers and liberatory (critical) pedagogy. Sees a need to work toward a democratic curriculum in the teaching of writing but sees failure if women's experiences continue to be disregarded. (PA)

Describes a series of activities to help middle school students develop an artist's vision and then convey that vision through poetry. Describes how lessons progress from looking at concrete objects to observations of settings and characters, gradually adding memory and imagination to direct observation, and finishing with revision. Notes that…

Contrasts the traditional method of teaching college reading, which is based on behaviorist theory, with the modern model, which is based on psycholinguistic theory. Categorizes 20 current, popular reading textbooks as traditional, modern, or mixed. Argues that psycholinguistic theory will dominate in the next century, not only as a theory for…

Describes a writing course at Winona State University where students from working class backgrounds find practical service projects involving writing for nonprofit organizations. (TB)

Replicated 1982 study of student writing and nature of writing instruction in one Kentucky school district. Found that teachers in 1995 spent twice as much time teaching writing as in 1982 and that students spent more time on higher-level writing activities involving composition of extended text and less time on lower-level activities such as…

Reviews research and raises questions about instruction that integrates reading and writing or that focuses on thematic units. Concludes with guidelines for integrated instruction. (SR)

Determines the impact of a literature-based program integrated into literacy and science instruction on achievement, use of literature, and attitudes toward the literacy and science program. Finds that literature/science group children scored better on all literacy measures than literature-only group children, who scored better on all measures…

Journal entries of disadvantaged students in a preadmission prep course illustrate the potential of such "personal" writing to perform a powerful cultural critique and bridge the gap between academic and personal discourses. A conflict appeared between literate practices students already used and those they were expected to adopt in academia. (SK)

Presents a writing mini-lesson for primary and intermediate elementary school students that encourages them to spend more time on verbs and less time on details in order to improve their overall writing. A sidebar provides a list of useful children's books. (SM)