Discusses the collected research on free modifiers and "minor sentences," or "formal fragments." Asks English teachers for less concentration on initial placement of modifiers, less rigidity concerning fragments, and more practice with punctuating final free modifiers. (RL)

Discusses ways to elicit the final project in a high school writing workshop--supplying the opening 20 to 30 pages of a novel. Examines student interests and writing styles in conjunction with the beginning pages of published novels. (RL)

Examines arguments in favor of the notion of dialect interference in writing; offers counterevidence and explores an alternative explanation for apparent dialect interference in writing. Concludes that pedagogies for teaching writing skills to native speakers of English that assume dialect interference are theoretically wrong, pedagogically…

Proposes the inclusion in teacher education programs of a required sociological foundations course that teaches about the public school in American society and that requires frequent writing. Describes possible components of such a course and indicates teaching procedures that might be used. (GT)

Proposes that offering students activities that exercise right-brain functions (nonverbal, nonrational, spatial, and intuitive) helps students become more fully developed human beings and better writers. (RL)

Discusses: (1) educational changes that have led to a national decline in literacy; (2) a college philosophy course in which students are trained to write philosophical essays; (3) ways to integrate reading and writing skills into the teaching of a discipline; and (4) college level mini-courses in reading and writing skills that supplement classes…

Described are activities to be used in five learning centers which build on children's interests in wild animals. Developed is an imaginary safari park with artwork depicting wild animals and tropical vegetation. Objectives, materials, and directions are included. (KC)

Describes the Colorado Writing Project, a teacher-consultant inservice training program, and presents the results of holistic scoring of papers by students whose teachers had attended inservice meetings conducted by the teacher-consultants. (HTH)

Analyzes three concerns to which English teachers must attend during the next decade: writing about technology in simpler, more direct terms; using popular literature as a steppingstone to more meaningful literature; and reintegrating literature and composition study. (JT)

Advocates individualizing remedial writing courses at the college level and describes three programs that emphasize individual placement, focus on student writing rather than on workbook materials, and offer peer tutoring. (MKM)

Argues that college teachers will have an easier and more productive experience with student writing if they make and communicate the distinction between high-stakes and low-stakes assignments and between high- and low-stakes ways of responding to student writing. Specific suggestions are made for communicating assignments and commenting on them.…

Describes how a middle school language arts teacher makes analyzing and creating visual art a partner to reading and writing in her classroom. Describes a project on art and Vietnam which shows how background information can add to and influence interpretation. Describes a unit on Greek mythology and Greek vases which leads to a related visual…

Richard Sterling, executive director of nation's largest inservice training project, discusses his plans to enlarge the scope of the National Writing Project and place it at center of school reform. With 160 sites in 45 states and Puerto Rico, this 25-year-old project brings together expert teachers for extended summer training. Teachers…

Describes an exercise for a business writing class which provides teams of students with a simulated encounter involving extended conflict with an adversarial business person, extending over several weeks, and requiring extensive problem solving and a range of business writing. (SR)

Describes a prewriting problem-solving plan intended to help students achieve effective organization and persuasion in writing business documents. Finds that business communication students felt the plan was beneficial, particularly for persuasive messages, individual writing, and small-group writing, and that many felt the plan was worth…