Prepared by classroom teachers, the papers in this collection combine practical knowledge with recent findings from writing research. Among the topics discussed in the 25 papers are (1) student teacher conferences, (2) using poetry to develop writing fluency, (3) writing as a learning process, (4) oral and written discourse, (5) creative dramatics…

Intended as a guide for elementary school teachers who want to use the computer as a writing tool in their classrooms, this booklet offers an outline of practical information and techniques for introducing young children to computers in kindergarten through grade 6. The first chapter explains the process approach to writing and advocates computer…

Based on college writing center models, a number of high schools are deciding to establish writing centers, some of them in anticipation of competency tests in composition. Staffing can be the single most significant and expensive factor for secondary schools wanting to provide writing centers. Among the options for dealing with the staffing…

It is safe to assume that by the end of the decade the videocassette recorder (VCR) will be the only piece of educational technology available to virtually all students both in and out of school. Given that working out the pedagogical consequences of VCR technology will be the most important media-related task of the next few years, the following…

Computer use in the English classroom has the potential to help students enjoy and integrate their learning of writing and reading of literature in new ways. This new relationship between the student and machine-readable text can be thought of in terms of Alvin Toffler's theory of the "prosumer," a person who uses Information Age…

A study examined the effects of using heuristics, a problem-solving approach, to respond to drafts written by six university students of advanced composition in English as a second language (ESL). The students had varied language backgrounds. The teacher responded to first drafts of each of three writing assignments by writing heuristic questions…

Collaborative learning (the construction of knowledge through interaction of pairs or small groups of students) is an effective tool for helping students bridge the gap between speaking and writing. To accomplish this type of learning, students must practice talking and writing in a small group structure. Concrete teaching experience has shown…

Reported are the findings of a legislatively mandated study on reducing certain class sizes of grades kindergarten through three to an optimum pupil-teacher ratio for Minnesota's schools. This report, after defining terms, briefly surveys variables affected by class size, such as teaching processes and classroom climate. Research is subsequently…

Based on studies conducted by teachers and graduate students at Northeastern University, this book offers a comprehensive overview of the kinds of research being conducted by writing teachers, as well as extensive information on how this research has affected their professional lives. The chapters are divided into five parts dealing with the…

Designed for elementary school teachers, this publication treats various aspects of publishing young student-authors' writing. Activities are as follows: (1) proofreading (children should proofread first by themselves); (2) pagination (let children decide how to break up the text); (3) placement of text (on alternate pages, for example, or perhaps…

In the past 5 years, the University of Hawaii (UH) English Department has undergone significant changes in curriculum, staff, and students. Freshman English was formerly taught by lecturers, but is now the shared responsibility of all professors on the English faculty. The maximum class enrollment has been decreased from 25 students to 20.…

Research indicates that writing can be an important vehicle for integrating all the learning that occurs in a foreign language. However, a number of factors have conspired to displace foreign language writing as a critical skill: the push for oral proficiency, departmental fragmentation, larger class sizes, and heavier faculty loads. Second…

Working from both literary and composition theory, this book argues that American composition theory and pedagogy of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is founded on the Platonic view that invention is a solitary act in which the individual, drawing upon innate knowledge and mental structures, searches for the truth, using introspective self…

A series of studies was conducted to explore three trends that have emerged from sentence combining research: (1) students with lower abilities in sentence combining and reading comprehension tend to register higher gains in both areas as a result of sentence combining instruction; (2) the broader the range of any student's sentence combining…

Acknowledging that reasoning ability has been identified by the College Board as one of the six basic academic competencies, this guide is intended to help secondary school language arts teachers integrate critical thinking skills into their curriculum. The guide is divided into the following sections: (1) test-taking skills (summary of college…