An exemplary teacher who perfected portfolio writing techniques with his seventh-graders fears that abandoning KIRIS (Kentucky Instructional Results Information System) for a more conventional testing system will discourage students' riskier ventures. Talented teachers must balance teaching writing as an artistic process with meeting concrete…

Describes using the World Wide Web in a multilingual classroom to address different learning styles and to teach English, social studies, math, science, art, foreign countries, writing, and media literacy. Discusses parent involvement and use of technology in interdisciplinary lessons. Highlights Web sites for national standards, five reasons to…

Draws on a study of socioeconomically disadvantaged children's acquisition of school literacies to investigate how children's writing and drawing might be key elements in developing critical literacies in elementary school settings. Focuses on how such classroom writing can be a mediator of emotions, intellectual and academic learning, social…

Presents a case study of one second-grade teacher's classroom action research project in which she explores how and when students decided to use electronic editing tools to revise their writing. Discusses factors that influenced student's editing choices and their ability to work in pairs. Considers implications for the use of computers in…

In this article, the author reports on the use of classroom instructors and full-time professional teaching assistants called "course tutors" for teaching business communication to large groups at an undergraduate university. The author explains how to recruit course tutors, what course tutors do in the classroom, and the advantages and…

Research literature on writing storybooks overlooks first graders. This is puzzling as children enter first grade having emergent literacy, in reading, writing, and story composition. It may reflect the belief that at this age children should learn to read and write (conventionally) as the curriculum demands, while elaborate writing is assumed to…

This article links failed reform to failed education through a case study of an annual collaborative revision of a program textbook in the Composition Program at the University of California at Irvine. Review of successive editions of the program's "Student Guide to Writing at UCI" reveals a progressive retreat from the program's…

Appropriately timed Focus on Form can help in raising the learners' language awareness. In this paper we argue that the learner's own text composition progression can indicate when a learner is ready to notice a particular language form. Stimulated recall induced discussion was used to provoke explicit writer comments relating to noticing and…

This paper analyzes the process of intergenerational language shift from a sociolinguistic perspective and proposes a pedagogical model for expanding the stylistic range of heritage learners, targeting the development of writing proficiency. The model proposes that the curriculum should be organized so that students initially draw on their…

This paper outlines issues around learning to write and considers the range of difficulties children may experience. The role of Information and Communications Technology in facilitating writing development is considered. Software applications that can be used to support aspects of the writing process and target teaching are outlined. Criteria for…

Argument, debate, discussion, disagreement--most teachers would agree that these skills fall well within their students' repertoire. Students are frequently energized and excited by arguments and will voluntarily elaborate on and defend their ideas. Yet put these same students to the task of writing a persuasive essay and much of that eloquence is…

This study investigated the effects of the WebQuest Writing Instruction (WQWI) program on Taiwanese EFL learners' writing performance, writing apprehension, and perception of web-resource integrated language learning. Participants were students from two junior college classes. One class received traditional classroom writing instruction and the…

This book contains resources, including lesson plans and other materials that could be used by teachers of children of migrant works and other ESL children, as well as by teachers whose students are not learners of English. Seven chapters include: (1) Migrant Farmworkers and Their Families; (2) How Language Works; (3) How to Create Culturally…

This volume discusses factors that affect struggling readers in grades 7-12 and provides research-based strategies for improving their reading and writing skills. Chapters examine why some adolescents have trouble achieving reading proficiency, describe school-wide policies and programs that support literacy, and suggest age-appropriate classroom…

CraftPlus[R] is an integrated learning package that consists of a K-8 spiraling, core writing curriculum based on explicit Target Skills instruction; professional books; grade-level Curriculum Guides; sixteen workshop and classroom demonstration DVDs; and a CD with student samples and other classroom support materials. The grade-level Curriculum…