One instructor's "dead zone" (her windowless classroom in the depths of the Humanities building) was the place where little exchange between teacher and students took place. When one day she overheard the students talking about how little money they had left on their meal cards, she took a few dozen bagels to that afternoon's writing…

There has been much discussion of what students need to know to write effectively. An example of criteria is the requirements for the Writing Sample of the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP). Students, unless exempted, must write an essay that meets this standard before they can receive an associate diploma or enroll in junior-level courses in…

Creative writing is not a magical art from magic wands, but an everyday practice in the hands of steady writers. Creative writing calls, above all, for self-discipline. Along with intellectual and emotional stamina, a poetic writer needs sensory awareness. The writer also forms a mysterious sixth sense--intuition. In search of the good words, the…

A sabbatical spent exploring the genre of travel writing began a writing instructor's journey to figure out what travel writing teaches--and how--and why it is so compelling to students. Her research in the genre of travel writing began as she was preparing students going abroad to keep meaningful journals. In middle- and advanced-level travel…

The effects of prewriting, drafting, and revising in a large-scale writing assessment were studied, focusing on drafting and revision patterns exhibited by students during testing. A total of 465 students were selected for this study (113 in grade 3, 117 in grade 5, and 116 in grade 10). Each student's work included the prewriting, first draft,…

One of the mandates of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 is that students develop a writing portfolio. Ultimately, schools must elevate the average performance level of students' portfolios to the benchmark of "proficient." During site visits to 29 schools, 34 indicators were identified that differentiated writing scores and…

This paper explains the government of the United Kingdom's (UK) National Literacy Strategy (NLS), established in 1997 by the incoming UK government to raise standards of literacy in English elementary school over a 5- to 10-year period. The paper summarizes how international research influenced the Strategy; reports on the impact of the NLS on the…

With the growing numbers of English language learners in the schools, more and more educators are creating bilingual programs and opportunities for students to learn in their native languages while also perfecting their English skills. Writing is integral to these approaches, and learning to write well in Spanish often contributes to academic…

Prior to about 1995, few secondary schools teachers outside the English KLA (Key Learning Areas) in Sydney's Catholic schools consciously focused on the development of literacy in their teaching approaches. By the mid-1990s however, a number of educational perspectives (e.g. genre approaches, teaching/learning cycles integrating content with…

The 19 ideas collected in this 19th edition of "Ideas Plus" come from 2 sources: ideas submitted at an Idea Exchange session at a National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention or Spring Conference and contributions by readers of "Classroom Notes Plus" and "Ideas Plus." Some of the teaching practices described in the collection are…

Exploring all the essential components of a quality upper elementary literacy program, this book is a resource for fostering success that will enable students to enjoy a future filled with literacy journeys. Sections of the book address: special help for struggling readers and writers; a basic structure of the literacy program within a framework…

Intended for parents and teachers, this guide provides all the information needed to lead a first-grade child through 30 lessons or 30 weeks of learning for a beginning speller. The guide helps the child to learn to identify common, logical spelling patterns; leads the child quickly to more complex words; and aids him or her in becoming a…

This paper describes the development of a Web-based literacy learning software application, Technology Enhanced Learning Environment on the Web (TELE-Web). TELE-Web was developed based on the curriculum of the Early Literacy Project (ELP), an existing literacy program for elementary school students. In describing the development of TELE-Web, the…

Patterns of interaction, including power relations and social goals, were investigated by observing first-grade children over a 5-month period as they worked in small groups to compose stories on the computer. Three groups selected for in-depth analysis represent the wide range of observed interaction patterns. Differences in interaction patterns…

In summer 2000, an extended-time project was initiated at Saint Louis Community College at Forest Park (SLCC-FP) to conduct a retrospective analysis of a sample of 482 entering students enrolled in entry-level writing courses at SLCC-FP during fall 1999. The purpose of the study was to examine the correspondence among students' academic success,…