Highlights children as a source of information about curriculum development. Observes how and why some first grade children write, and how this may affect teachers' instructional assumptions. (HTH)

Concludes that field-independent college writers produced discourse that was judged more coherent than the discourse produced by field-dependent writers. Concludes that cognitive style is a significant variable in explaining differences between good and poor writers. (FL)

Examines why analytical thinking should be a major focus of teaching in the reading and writing classroom. (HOD)

Describes an approach to writing evaluation in which the teacher asks the student to write a student-teacher memo--a brief, informal not-to-be-graded communication--that explains the student's intention in responding to the writing assignment. (HOD)

Stresses benefits of freewriting techniques and writing support groups to improve student writing, shows that the usefulness of writing as exploration is better communication, and points out the advantages of having audience-centered communication and a shared responsibility for a project. (EL)

Describes a research project for teachers on reading and writing in which teachers meet regularly in small groups to share their creative writing. (EL)

Argues that much of the flurry of activity in schools involving computers is a computer con game. Tells how computers should be used for educational purposes and how teaching methods would change as a result. (EL)

Reports on a survey of business managers indicating (1) that managers consider skills in written and oral communication important to career success and employee job performance and (2) dissatisfaction with employees' ability to communicate effectively. Suggests aligning at least some writing assignments more closely with job-related writing tasks.…

Responds to Raymond Rodrigues's l985 "English Journal" article presenting reservations about a too-narrow and too-dogmatic definition and application of the writing process approach to the teaching of writing. Addresses concerns that the article would provide ammunition from the traditionalists and that new writing process converts would find…

Describes a project that provided students with the opportunity to observe and comment on their own writing throughout the year through observations of their childhood writing, a series of journal writings, and writing taken through revision. (EL)

Describes a creative writing and reading class assignment in which each student was required to make a 20-minute presentation as a catalyst for student writing (such as a poem, song, object, or picture). (EL)

Offers a four-step procedure that can be used to help upper elementary school students learn to write a well-structured expository paragraph. Suggests that the writing experience is a bridge to understanding more difficult text structure. (FL)

With 138 sites nationwide and over 70,000 teachers participating each year, the National Writing Project offers readily available opportunity for improved writing instruction. Essentially a staff-development program, the project is based on the belief that the key agent in educational change is the teacher. (Author/MLW)

Argues that a culture's rhetoric constitutes an interface where the prescriptions of the language meet the practices of the culture. Attempts to identify and suggest some of the differences between Chinese and Western rhetoric that confront an American writing teacher in China. (EL)

Describes learning activities that promote the teaching of reading and writing together within the context of basal materials. Presents an example of how these activities were used in a second-grade classroom. (FL)