This action research is designed to help students improve their writing skills and their confidence in themselves as writers. The targeted population is third graders in a suburban Chicago, Illinois elementary school. Evidence of the need to improve writing skills exists through teacher observation and evaluation of student writing, and scores on…

The writing and art program described in this lesson plan employs scientific observation, descriptive writing, sketching, reading, investigation, and poetry writing to train middle school students to use their senses and focus their attention. During the four 45-minute lessons, students will: make careful observations of natural objects; write…

The shared writing program described in this lesson engages K-2 students in thinking about the process of learning and the behavioral and community needs which support a productive classroom environment. During the two 30-minute lessons, students will: participate in group discussions about learning; identify and agree on classroom goals and…

After reading self-selected books, students respond to reading in a journal and talk about their books daily in small, heterogeneous groups. The teacher guides and assesses students work by rotating among the groups, offering suggested response prompts and writing with them in their dialogue journals. During five 30-40 minute sessions, students…

Students will combine reading with descriptive writing in this lesson plan. Embedded in this project are skills, such as compiling, composing, defining, describing, illustrating, rewriting, and validating. During nine 30-minute sessions, students will: read and discuss "The Giver" by Lois Lowry in order to create meaning from the text; read short…

This report describes a program for advancing student writing skills through the use of systematic and creative phonics instruction. The targeted population consisted of first and fourth grade students in a middle class suburban community located in the suburbs of Chicago. The problems of poor phonics skills and writing abilities were documented…

This work investigates the relationship between the programmatic and classroom instructional factors of schools and students' reading and writing achievement in 14 high-poverty schools. The study finds that schools which rated higher on a scale of collaborative leadership showed greater student growth in reading fluency and writing. Classroom…

The learning goals that inform service learning as a whole can contribute to the computers and writing field significantly. This paper demonstrates how two lines of inquiry can be furthered, community-based writing and computers and writing, through new data and critical reflection on learning goals and communication tools. The paper presents a…

This textbook is about engaging students from fourth through eighth grade in literacy experiences. It is intended to help teachers of adolescents expand their knowledge of this age group and explore ways of engaging these students in meaningful literacy learning. Part One (chapters 1-4) provides selected theoretical foundations for developmental…

Using a balanced approach that integrates the language arts and blends teacher and student leadership strategies, this book offers a variety of activities for teaching reading and writing and has a flexible design, making the book adaptable for use at all grade levels. The balanced approach in the book uses a compatible combination of…

As teaching argumentative and persuasive writing returns to the classroom, so does the question of how to do so effectively. Process writing reforms over the past 30 years have sought to change the ways writing is taught from drill and practice in grammar exercises to a focus more on continuous writing and revision. Arguing from an ecological…

This revised manual aims to assist Ohio teachers in preparing their students for success in the Ohio Grade 9 Proficiency Test in Writing. Noting that the original writing resource manual shared sample papers based on the expository practice test prompt, the revised manual states that since that manual's publication, teachers have asked for…

This guide examines the effect of learning disorders on the writing process and gives practical advice to writing teachers, lab tutors, tutors in private practice, learning specialists, and other professionals who regularly meet student writers with learning disorders. The guide also suggests ways writers with learning disorders can write more…

Providing a foundation in which researchers may build future research and theory and in which teachers may design more effective classroom practice, this book presents 12 essays that bring together the contributions of researchers and teacher-scholars to present the significant theory and research related to the writing process. The book is…

Suggesting the need for balanced reading and writing instruction, this book is a compendium of many of the best teaching ideas presently available to reading professionals. The first part of the book addresses the research and practice related to understanding and supporting literacy development, and the second part "puts it all…