Describes the organization, design, and implementation of a two-week thematic unit for sixth-grade students, which was designed to stimulate critical and creative thinking about environmental issues through integrated reading, writing, listening, and speaking in the context of their reading-language arts, social studies, science, and mathematics…

Uses analogy of patchwork quilt square to describe the reading instruction methods comprising one school's first-grade reading program. Parts include guided reading and centers, guided writing, reading workshops, reading strategies, comprehension through retelling and responding, word study, good literature, a print-rich environment, and strong…

Investigated relation of the quality of third graders' writing assignments and written instructor feedback to quality of subsequent student work. Found that amount and type of teacher feedback predicted a small, significant proportion of variance in the quality of content, organization, and mechanics of final drafts. Initial writing quality…

Reports an exploratory case study examining notions of success in an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) writing course from the perspectives of three non-native students and their teachers. Aims to investigate how the individual learners constructed activities and their own success in the course. Supports other studies of student and teacher…

Analyzes the use of various technologies to enhance literacy practices within a multi-genre writing project involving pre-service teachers and middle school students. Twenty-seven pre-service teachers, simultaneously enrolled in a methods and a technology course, collaborated with middle school students using a synchronous Web discussion to…

Studies the effects of listening to and discussing different qualities of children's literature on fifth grade students' writing. Finds that stories written by children who heard and discussed higher quality literature were rated significantly differently on traits related to literary quality and genre development than those written by children…

Discusses a project in which a professional writer, poet Ian McMillan, was brought into middle school classrooms to aid in writing instruction. Describes the writer's contributions to the program, the problems he encountered, and his perceptions of the purposes of writing and the value of his writing residency. (SG)

Reviews some of the author's own mistakes and successes to help guide other writers and teachers interested in projects in which they collaborate with a visual artist to improve students' writing skills and visual art ability. (MG)

Describes how technical writing teachers, by using a system of peer critiques, self evaluation, and portfolio grading, can use process activities (student literacy autobiographies, interviews with professional writers, and writing peer groups) to extend the range of activities in technical writing courses. (MM)

Reviews how background knowledge fits into a model of the expository writing process. Describes a project involving gifted seventh-grade students who increased their background knowledge about their chosen research paper topics in order to overcome some of the difficulty of expository writing. (RS)

Annotates 136 conference papers, journal articles, and doctoral dissertations from 1988 and 1989 dealing with research in the teaching of English. Includes sections on writing, language, literature, and teacher education. (RS)

Discusses first grade students' writing experiences and processes. Demonstrates, using student writing samples, how simple expression can lead to greater complexity with appropriate teacher guidance. Asserts that teachers must observe and take cues from students to determine what learning context and hints to provide. (MM)

This article reports on a study which investigated the question of whether the motivational and attitudinal components associated with wanting to do well, taking risks, and having a progressive ideology are empirically associated with staff ratings of quality. Subjects were 133 preservice primary teachers in England. (IAH)

Demonstrates the complex social nature of literacy by examining research on the influence of social interactions on reading and writing development. Illustrates these findings with examples from the environment and activities of a kindergarten classroom. (MM)

Discusses the potential and the limitations of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) in the teaching of writing. Outlines the goals and significance of research, and analyzes the pedagogical assumptions underlying such research. Describes the architecture of these systems and illustrates instructional design issues by describing the ITS program,…