Presents two assignments that are designed to help students (at the high school and college levels) to develop a sense of place while building skills to improve their narrative writing. Includes the assignment sheet. Describes how students create a Michigan Travel Guide from their final drafts. (SR)

Presents and describes a narrative writing assignment used by the author in a developmental writing course that helps to demonstrate to students how and why sexist language usage can limit thinking, sometimes injuriously, and that concretely illustrates how language and gender stereotyping interact causally. Describes the assignment, how it is…

Discusses an action research study in which the teacher-researcher consistently explored three phases of readers theater (RT) activities with 14 students in an English-as-a-Second-Language writing class. Positive effects of using RT were found. (Author/VWL)

Proposes the use of a genre-based framework, according to the Swalesian tradition of genre, for the teaching of the organizational structure of academic report writing. An analysis of 15 engineering undergraduate project reports reveals that the problem-solution pattern is prevalent in key sections of these reports and should therefore also be…

Describes a method the author has used successfully with elementary school classes that enables students to enjoy the process of revision in their prose-writing. Notes that the exercises can be used in any time frame or circumstance. (SR)

Reviews the evolution of the required Freshman English course of the 1960s into the present college composition course offered in most institutions. Notes the focus on enabling students to master the skill of writing through emphasis on the writing process. Raises concerns, however, over the large number of adjunct and/or part-time faculty…

Identifies research contributing to teachers' understanding not only of what it means to teach composition but how it might be implemented in a meaningful and productive manner to improve students' writing. Concludes that a variety of meaningful writing tasks contribute to student growth, writing instruction is a shared responsibility, and the…

Relates how coaching football is like teaching writing to students. Both groups of students benefit from demonstrations by the teacher or coach and require practice and routine drills. Describes the KISS theory of "Keep it simple, stupid" and how teachers can utilize it as part of their teaching strategy. (VWC)

Sets forth strategies intended to provide classroom teachers with some options that enhance writing for all students, but also provide special needs students with the structure they need to be successful as well. Describes the writing process, which includes prewriting activities, creating a draft, reviewing and revising, editing for polish,…

Presents and discusses a list of World Wide Web sites, and suggests possibilities for their use in creating writing-centered literacy experiences for students that promote both traditional and electronic literacy skills. Lists them in four major categories: teacher resources, student writing resources, interactive writing, and student publishing.…

Uses the example of service learning to examine connections between and definitions of public and private as they are deployed in writing, literacy studies, and the field of English. Argues that, done effectively, service learning fits well into an English Studies that is reconsidering its own boundaries and internal relationships. (RS)

Analyzes the role of computers in supporting the writing process in a large-scale, multisite action research study into use of computers as tools for learning. Notes that the computers and desktop publishing significantly affected the conduct of the action research as well as the collaborative relationship between teacher-researchers and the…

Argues that literacy workshop classrooms, though they may appear chaotic, are highly organized environments. Reviews six model theories of organizations and their management. Describes a typical day in a seventh-grade literacy workshop. Outlines revisions needed in educators' thinking about their professional practice, and suggests strategies to…

A review of research on second-language writing looks at literature in four areas: research attempting to understand the norms and demands of writing; studies focusing on understanding students, their composing, and their texts; research on the functions of second-language writing instruction and classroom interaction between teacher and learner;…

Describes a creative writing class in which students used hypertext to develop their writing portfolios. Suggests that, much like "Kansas Dorothy" who ventured into Oz, a "tornado" carried these students and their teacher from the safe Paperland to the yellow chip road of electronic portfolios. Notes that students' portfolios…