Minilessons on two writing skills (use of adverbial phrases and possessives) were taught during whole group instruction in mainstream settings which included four sixth grade students with learning disabilities. Increases in the taught skills for three of the four students suggested the effectiveness of the minilesson approach. (DB)

Summarizes a student-conducted telephone survey involving 200 interviews on the topic of dating. Describes the process of organizing and carrying out the survey. Notes that the project was exciting and beneficial for both students and professionals involved. (HB)

Gives seven responses from practicing English teachers concerning ways that they have implemented the writing of various kinds of letters by students into the English curriculum. Demonstrates the efficacy and success of such methods. (HB)

Two studies are reported which investigated the efficacy of an interactive approach to teaching writing revision skills for 11 adolescents with learning disabilities. Results from both studies indicated that interactive teaching successfully taught students to identify ambiguities and make their writing more salient. (Author/PB)

Offers a critique of existing methods of assessing the human interest of basic writing textbooks, contending that most are abstract and subjective and that the more objective Flesch formula inflates texts' human-interest level. Advocates modifying existing formulas and guidelines. Suggests criteria (e.g., appropriateness of readability level) for…

Discusses how two first grade teachers collaborated to create a poetry unit as part of their reading/writing workshop. Presents sample minilessons and poems written by students. (PRA)

Describes a long-term project in which elementary school teachers made fundamental changes in their reading/writing program, and came to a better understanding of their students' development as readers and writers by listening to children. Notes that children helped those with learning difficulties participate in the regular class upon elimination…

Provides a single lens view of the operation of the complex phenomenon of intertextuality (interpreting one text by means of a previously composed text) in one first grade classroom from one perspective. Finds that young children's writing is influenced in a complex way by texts that have been read to them. (RS)

Presents five articles (by administrators, faculty, graduate students, and writing center personnel) written in response to the "Progress Report from the CCCC Committee on Professional Standards" as well as the "Statement of Principles and Standards for the Postsecondary Teaching of Writing." (SR)

This curriculum unit, intended for use with gifted students and others, uses the theme of queens and honors to develop writing skills across the curriculum. Sample learning activities are suggested for the areas of language arts, social studies, mathematics, and science. (DB)

One college writing teacher engaged his class in the revision of a computer program to check grammar, focusing on improvement of the algorithms for identifying inappropriate uses of the passive voice. Process and problems of constructing new algorithms, effects on student writing, and other algorithm applications are discussed. (MSE)

An Oregon elementary teacher encouraged a group of fourth grade students in a writing pullout program to share their writings in a portfolio she was assembling for an education class. The kids all volunteered their writing, learned to express themselves better, and asked to create their own portfolios. The experience fostered student ownership,…

Developed model, based on Bloom's taxonomy of educational objectives, for guiding students in writing reviews of family literature. Findings from survey of advisors addressing skills of their graduate students in writing literature reviews support hierarchical nature of taxonomy and demonstrate similarities across scientific disciplines.…

Reviews "Favorites, Friendships, Food, and Fantasy: Literature-Based Thematic Units for Early Primary" (A. Lukasevich and F. Pieronek), a two-volume publication that presents four literature-based thematic units for use in the language arts curriculum. The units are designed to be used sequentially in 12- or 15-day segments, and each lesson has 4…

Describes an effort in the Dominican Republic to write, study, and publish a new curriculum of basic language and literacy which includes some teaching approaches familiar in the English-speaking world but new to the Dominican Republic. (SR)