Basic writers can be taught to write effective expository prose if they are taught to revise, and they can make considerable progress if they are given opportunities to write narration before tackling the complexities of exposition. Narratives come easily to basic writers and allow them complete control over subject matter and language. The…

This instructional resource guide contains a variety of learning activities categorized according to specific instructional objectives for functional writing development. The activities were developed, reviewed, and evaluated by participants in Project Basic of the Maryland public school system. Thirty-eight objectives are arranged under five…

Intended for writing instructors at all educational levels, the chapters in this collection discuss the philosophy and principles of the teaching of writing in an effort to capitalize on the current public interest in writing. Chapter topics are (1) the basics of teaching writing; (2) teaching the composing process; (3) writing assignments and…

Intended for elementary school language arts and reading teachers, this paper presents classroom activities using poetry to encourage divergent thinking and to give children the chance to play with language and to practice English language conventions in order to be effective readers and writers. The 12 activities are (1) combining poetry and…

It is often difficult for students in public relations writing courses to understand precisely how their various writing assignments are being evaluated. It is important, therefore, for teachers of these courses to develop a systematic method of evaluating all writing assignments. One method of doing this is to concentrate on elements common to…

The goals and objectives of a college library instruction program should be developed jointly by library staff and composition faculty. Such a program should (1) attempt to overcome student insecurity and confusion about conducting research; (2) focus on tools and skills necessary at each university level; (3) emphasize the unique aspects of the…

Based on the Bay Area Writing Project, The Jefferson Parish (Louisiana) Writing Project (JPWP) was developed, focusing on improving writing instruction and writing itself. Each year, one public high school becomes a demonstration center for intensive staff development, school-wide writing assessment, and workshops for teachers at neighboring…

The opportunity to discover the flaws in newspaper letters to the editor and to evaluate the ensuing consequences can help beginning persuasive writing students, who have had little practice at forming arguments, begin to conceptualize for themselves the ways that principles of persuasive discourse apply in particular writing situations. The study…

The results of a national survey to determine the current status of statewide writing assessments are presented in this report. Various sections of the report provide (1) an explanation of terms commonly associated with writing assessment; (2) a brief account of the status of states' writing assessments; (3) individual summaries of administrative…

A college composition course based on teaching the difference between male and female modes of rhetoric offers advantages over the traditional course in reference, persuasive, and expressive discourse: the appeal to student emotion provided by the terms "female" and "male," and the clarity of the terms in delineating the…

Constructed on the premise that the teacher with a written assignment to evaluate seeks procedures and activities for remediating the errors present in that assignment, this handbook is designed as a tool for the teaching of remedial composition in grades five through twelve. The handbook is composed of a checklist and a diagnostic grid, followed…

Modern linguistic theory offers two main contributions to the improvement of writing: readability and appropriateness. Readability can be developed by improving the correctness of forms used and achieved by carrying out an error analysis on the student's writing to provide insights into errors and clause structure. Linguists have determined that…

This manual was developed to aid in the systematic diagnosis of reading needs and the application of prescriptive strategies (or "prescriptions") to meet those needs among students in grades 2-12. The prescriptions can be used within reading, language arts or language instruction periods. Their foci include reading readiness and motivation, phonic…

This speech indicates how teachers can use visual materials in classrooms to promote writing by children in primary school. Five classroom tested motivating experiences discussed are: (1) adding words to wordless picture books, (2) writing about artist's paintings, (3) writing story lines from films, (4) comparing variant editions of the same…

This paper shows how to integrate reading comprehension instruction and writing instruction through the use of sentence combining--the act of combining several short sentences that have been derived by transformational analysis from longer ones. Suggestions are offered to guide teachers through the necessary steps for designing appropriate…