Argues that composition instruction should not be irreversibly separated from the study of literature in the college English curriculum. (AEA)

Offers six suggestions for teaching reading, including forming reading clubs, using story folders, and devising a parent involvement program. (AEA)

Compares English and American writing across the curriculum programs. Describes a survey of two- and four-year colleges in New Jersey to identify programs bringing cross-disciplinary faculty groups together to discuss student writing performance and interdisciplinary problem solution plans. Reviews identified program initiation and evaluation…

Explores findings from research on the psychology of reading that may confirm and enlarge upon both the importance of planning and the perceptions of plans in writing and reading. (RL)

Maps out the sequence and elements of a teacher training program that extends the Bay Area Writing approach to inservice writing teacher education. Describes ways of providing inservice participants with a foundation in the teaching of writing and experience in the writing process. (RL)

Describes an ethnographic study of writing in one elementary classroom that identified four functions of writing: writing to participate in community, writing to know oneself and others, writing to occupy free time, and writing to demonstrate academic competence. (HOD)

Teaching written communication in a secondary school foreign language class requires the creation of an authentic psycho-sociocultural environment. Given this environment, four types of activity are outlined: letter writing, writing advertisements and announcements, various types of forms to be filled in, and exercises arising from a learning need…

Contains suggestions from five teachers on (1) the power of imagery and lessons on poetic form, (2) a writing assignment designed to arouse students' memories in writing, (3) the uses of free writing, and (4) the value of writers' conferences for writing teachers. (RL)

Acknowledges that individuals feel about and describe the world differently, and that composition teachers allow established authors more license with syntax than they extend to students. Suggests that teachers evaluate student writing with more sensitivity to those different perceptions, and recognize the diversity of the English language and…

Considers "unpacking" or "deconstructing" sentences (the reverse of sentence combining) an effective teaching technique that helps students to develop clear predication and eliminate their tendency to use vague, confusing nominalized verbs. (RL)

Describes three semantic theories for teaching the writing process (case grammars, the "given-new" contract, and cohesion), with their implications for helping students communicate more effectively with their audiences. (RL)

Contends that writing projects, especially the National Writing Project, exemplify a promising orientation toward learning and knowing. Explains the essence of successful writing projects--teacher centered activities, mutual support among teachers, and teachers' writing. (RL)

Defends the combination of literature and writing instruction, offering a special course at the University of South Carolina as an example of the way intensive work in composition can be combined with an old-fashioned literary survey. (RL)

Offers a sampler of teaching strategies for using student collaboration during the early stages of writing. (RL)

Describes the development of a beginning writing assessment and defines the criteria used for evaluation. Provides a checklist of evaluation criteria, divided according to three developmental stages: beginning writing or readiness, transition, and composition. (AEA)