Names themselves have great power. Teachers and students of language know that certain words resonate and have the power to make connections to forces that cannot always be identified, or, at least, named. Names are certainly in this category of words--they define an individual, tell who he or she is, and connect a person to his or her ancestors…

A qualitative pilot study investigated the influence of nonfiction learning activities upon the level of student engagement, writing growth, and the quantity of students' nonfiction compositions. The participants were 19 third-grade students and 19 fourth-grade students, plus the 2 teachers of the respective classes. Nonfiction writing instruction…

Although most learning disabled (LD) adult learners have a strong desire to enhance their writing skills, many obstacles hinder their success. Characteristics of LD students found in their writing or actions include the following: frustration; poor study/note taking skills; test anxiety; lack of social skills; a difficult time following oral…

This handbook is one of a set of six which provide a systematic means to help students in grades 4 through 8 learn the process of writing while building specific writing skills. The handbook focuses on editorial skills, and offers 25 reproducible lessons, in a variety of formats, which focus on a specific writing improvement skill, such as writing…

Advertising in the mass media contains a wide variety of psychological, emotional, and cultural messages. In basic skills and English-as-a-Second-Language writing instruction, ads can be used to exemplify writing models presented in class. Basic skills students often come to writing classes discouraged or prepared for failure, and the structure of…

Drawing from a review of the literature on feedback in two fields, English education and social psychology, this paper sets forth a set of theoretical conclusions and practical suggestions for developmental English instructors and others to use in providing feedback to composition students. First, the research on written feedback in English…

A reason for failure at reading and writing of Pacific children may lie in the social behaviors which children bring to the classroom. A well documented example from America demonstrates that the uses of literacy in two very different communities were related to social factors: literacy was functional in character and enabled the members of the…

The booklet is divided into two parts: theory and method. Theory includes: (1) About corresponding rules for project work and process writing; (2) Introduction to process writing; (3) How to organize the teaching in primary and lower secondary school with only a few computers; (4) What about children who are not familiar with the keyboard?; (5)…

A study investigated what was possible in terms of student learning when a conceptual change model of teaching science and a writers' workshop model of teaching writing were used consistently across time. Similarities and contrasts in the curriculum, learning communities, and teachers' roles when the two instructional models were used (by two…

Newspaper journalists have difficulty experiencing much writing apprehension since fast deadlines makes these writers become comfortable with their raw copy. Such a sense of comfort and confidence are necessary for survival and success in the newspaper business. Writing research shows that writers produce better writing if the topic interests…

Writing shapes identity, since it explores the core of values and experience that defines the self. The literary canon, once considered sacrosanct, is now being disassembled in response to the many voices that are now recognized to comprise the American experience. Sensitivity to such a multicultural perspective resulted in the design of a…

Has the new emphasis on process versus product led instructors to teach that the writing process is everything and the product, the finished paper, of no import? This is a lesson that not even the most orthodox believer in writing process methodology would support. The process and the product are, in fact, mutually linked, rather than mutually…

This manual is designed to help volunteer teachers in family literacy programs introduce a writing project that provides parents and children with a worthwhile learning experience to take home and share. The guide suggests ways to prepare parents and children for a collaborative story-writing experience and offers ideas on how to structure the…

Students often see revision not as an opportunity to develop and improve a piece of writing but as an indication that they have failed to do it right the first time. To them, revision means correction. To correct this assumption, teachers' comments on papers should focus on more than mechanics. Teachers would do well to comment on the paper's…

Research suggests that the informal language of journals is very important. Language scholars such as J. Vygotsky (1962), J. Moffell (1968, 1982), P. Elbow (1973, 1982), and M. Shaughnessy (1977) believe that human beings find meaning through exploration in their own talking language. To add to the evidence in this area, a study conducted in an…