A study investigated how oral discourse affects the communicative process of teaching and learning and how that process influences and is influenced by the goals and expectations of college instructors and college students. Three college classes were observed for one semester. Data were collected in the form of field notes, cassette tapes of…

A survey of graduate writing courses offered at United States universities revealed two rationales for providing graduate level writing instruction: (1) students are underequipped by their undergraduate training for more advanced work, and (2) graduate work demands a different kind and level of writing which schools have a responsibility to teach.…

A study examined the behavior of first graders as they collaborated on a writing exercise using a word processor. Data were collected over three weeks in the form of fieldnotes and 13.5 hours of videotape of students working at the computer. Videotapes were examined to locate patterns of discourse and physical actions, and by abstracting from the…

Analysis and assessment of young children's spontaneous writing and drawing in daily journals may focus on three significant dimensions: what, who, and how: what stands for thought and meaning; who, for person; and how, for form. These categories may be further divided. Thought and meaning include theme(s), organization, and vocabulary; person…

Based on knowledge gleaned from eight years of research on children's writing development, this book focuses on the teaching of writing to children in the elementary school. The first section of the book deals with the essentials in teaching writing, and the establishment of a classroom that nurtures and supports growth in writing. The second…

For many years, educators from kindergarten to twelfth grade have approached the teaching of vocabulary, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and so forth as isolated skills, unconnected with the everyday use of reading, speaking, and writing. Such practices are now viewed with less favor, as researchers and educators approach reading and writing as…

Noting that (1) current research suggests that technology may contribute to improved instruction in writing but it does not do so automatically, and (2) while teachers may successfully employ computers with their writing students, their choices of methods remain critical, this paper surveys computer approaches and appropriate software for…

Intended for teachers who want to improve writing instruction in their kindergarten or elementary school classroom, this two-part guide offers ideas for kindergarten teachers to help their students express their feelings through writing and reports on a district-wide writing assessment in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The first part, which is divided…

Intended for college-level basic writers, this booklet integrates training in selected oral communication activities with writing instruction in order to improve students' academic writing. The first section discusses oral communication theory, emphasizing the underlying rhetorical abilities of invention, audience adaptation, and argumentation, to…

An introductory course assignment for writing in English as a second language consists of four steps: (1) in a survey, students assess their own writing skills in both their native language and English; (2) each student interviews two people, one who writes frequently in the student's native language and one who writes frequently in English, about…

Writing techniques espoused by Peter Elbow, applied to the teaching of writing in advertising copywriting classes can help students develop into better writers, generating better copy ideas. The shift of focus from writing a finished piece the first time to concentrating on the process of writing allows for a freer flow of ideas and creativity.…

A project followed the development of a curriculum of editing assignments used to bridge the gap between Miami-Dade Community College students' passive command of grammatical rules and active use of them in their writing. Assumptions and strategies used in developing the curriculum included: (1) the idea that editing must be seen as a part of the…

Evaluating the Writing To Read program (a computer-based reading/writing program developed by IBM for kindergarten children), a study examined the impact of the program on student achievement in the District of Columbia Public Schools. Writing To Read teaches students 42 phonetic sounds in the context of words that allow students to begin writing…

A survey of 50 college writing programs to ascertain what kind of training is being offered to student teachers revealed the significance of peer support and involvement and raised the following questions: (1) Can peers offer advice and support which is different from that offered by faculty and administrators? (2) Do graduate student teachers…

Materials from a spring 1986 teaching assistant (TA) planning meeting held at the University of Washington are presented. The training meeting was sponsored by the Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR). Contents include: a list of workshops; a timeline for planning TA orientation activities; information on CIDR print materials,…