Compared the longitudinal effects of phonics and whole-language instruction on kindergartners' reading and writing task performance over one year. Found that the whole-language group made more progress in reading and writing, and with more developmental coherence, than the phonics group. (JPB)

Reports on a case study of a technique designed to increase adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students' communicative competence by exposing students to real audiences in authentic settings. In the approach, students learn the subtle influence of cultural and social factors of speech in a manner difficult to duplicate in a classroom. (four…

Describes children's writing development, examines several general findings from recent research, and provides some examples of how these findings affect classroom practice for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) bilingual programs. Emphasizes the use and acquisition of writing as a means of facilitating the development of a second language. (MDM)

Teachers can encourage their elementary students to write by demonstrating writing themselves frequently throughout the day. The paper discusses how teachers can become more comfortable with their own writing in order to use it to teach, then offers suggestions on how to write in class and share it with students. (SM)

Describes a veteran high school English teacher's revised vision of what it means to teach writing to high school students. Describes his reflection and experimentation in the classroom to find a balance between freedom and structure, creativity and organization, appropriate for the realities of the high school classroom. Discusses the process…

Describes how a literacy coach worked with two content area teachers to revise the way they think about and implement instruction to enhance students' reading and writing. Shares two teacher inquiries: the experiences of a ninth-grade science teacher and his students as they developed and rated a class-written expository essay; and a…

This article discusses how parents can use the Language Experience Approach and Scaffolded Writing in the home environment to teach their children literacy skills and to prevent school failure. The benefits of parent involvement in influencing the quality and quantity of a child's literacy experiences is stressed. (Contains references.) (CR)

Describes an email writing partner exchange between preservice teachers and high school students in a tenth-grade English class and from various disciplines across the school, designed to help students develop conversations about writing as a tool for learning across the curriculum. Outlines ground rules for the project, and discusses issues that…

Describes how the author and her middle school students created the Writer's Club Web Site, a forum for information, creative expression, interaction about writing, and publication. Notes how writing, revising, editing, and publishing this web site promoted student ownership of information, collaboration, and audience awareness, and a genuine…

Describes an exploration the author and his seventh-grade students undertook as they wrote essays about objects of personal significance. Describes how they examined a piece of literature (an essay) as a model for their own writing, how they spent some time talking and listening to one another about their personal objects, and how they then wrote…

Examined perceptions of alternate-route and college-prepared teachers about adapting mathematics and writing curriculum to student diversity. Surveys and interviews indicated that while most teachers favored curriculum adaptation in general, commitment to these beliefs was inconsistent. Both groups preferred to discuss curriculum adaptation in…

Used writing samples, informal observations, and formal interviews and observations over 6 weeks to document a 4-year-old's emergent writing process. Found that the subject made the transition from the pre-phonetic to the semi-phonetic writing stages at an early age. Also found that young children's low tolerance level for frustration has…

Based on a literature review and reflective practice of a second-language teacher educator, paper discusses three categories of planning for writing instruction for middle-years students in an immersion or partial immersion context: planning for long-term balance, planning for daily implementation, and planning for task success. Highlights five…

This study was originally constructed to examine effect of content-area reading on English-as-a-Second-Language writing proficiency but was restructured and extended because composition topics proved to be confounding factors. Although results of the study raise several issues, most significant are the influence of topic on the acquisition of ESL…

Discusses exercises enabling teachers to help 6-year-olds complete the path to total reading and spontaneous writing. The foundation of the exercises is to help children analyze words into sounds; relate the symbols of the alphabet with the sounds using sandpaper letters; and acquire the physical ability to reproduce the letters in writing. (TJQ)