Grammar checkers do not claim to teach grammar; they are tools to bring potential problems to the writer's attention. They also offer only formal and Standard English preferences, limiting the freer expression of some literary forms. Without guidance, students may misuse the checker, become frustrated, and feel discouraged. Users must be…

While plagiarism is often viewed in terms of ethical binaries, scholars in composition studies have recognized plagiarism as part of literacy practices governing identity construction. In this light, what is at stake is how writers construct identity by positioning stance-claims according to the standards of respective discourse communities. For…

Each morning the first-graders are excited about applying their learning in reading, writing, math, science, social studies, art, oral language, and the social-emotional realm. The children are reporters, observing, documenting their work in small notebooks, discussing it, and reporting on it weekly in the class newspaper. To help teachers adapt…

Reading and Writing for Adolescence and Adulthood is a course for teacher candidates that introduces them to arts-based literacy instruction. The purpose is to train teachers to enhance reading and writing skills in adolescents. The pre-service teachers were encouraged to study theory and perform practical exercises using the arts so that they…

The present paper underscores the importance of the cognitive orientation of EFL students in their success in writing courses. A few suggestions are made as to how EFL teachers can put their students on the right cognitive path in their writings.

In essence, every educator is an ELL (English Language Learner) teacher, because every student---even native English speakers---is learning to master English. In this article, veteran ESL teacher Judie Haynes offers strategies for helping ELL students learn to write more effectively. While her advice is focused on ELL students, all teachers will…

This video workshop for elementary school teachers uses classroom footage to demonstrate how a writing workshop approach motivates intermediate students and helps them become proficient and independent writers. Ten teachers from across the country model teaching strategies and share reflections on their practice. Six nationally known experts in…

Research has revealed how students draw upon other texts when writing their own texts. This article explores how the writing of Alyssa, a 10-year-old Grade 5 student, was influenced by her engagement with literature with Radical Change characteristics, as well as by her knowledge of and experience with other texts. Dresang's Radical Change…

Most state standards refer to the writing process as one that writers use to communicate ideas with meaning and clarity for a variety of purposes and audiences. The writing process includes the stages a writer progresses through to move from a blank piece of paper to a finished piece that will be shared with the intended audience. Many teachers…

Students in higher education, most frequently, use the frontal approach while being asked to collaborate on a writing assignment. However, the difficulty in collaborative writing using conventional technologies such as pen and paper, board or computer is the limited ability to view the work of your peers during the process (Baeker, Glass,…

Narrative inquiry in English education comes in many shapes and forms--tales of classrooms and communities, didactic argu-stories, postmodern pastiches, open tales with O. Henry endings--but the heart of the enterprise is research in the form of story or, in other words, exploring the world by telling a story about it. In many such tales, all of…

This article examines what we know about effective adolescent writing instruction and what we still need to know. What we know is established by bringing together the findings from three sources: a comprehensive meta-analysis of experimental and quasi-experimental studies (Graham & Perin, 2007), a meta-analysis of single-subject design studies…

In this article, the author relates her experiences as creative writing teacher and her views as a teacher in the aftermath of Virginia Tech shooting. As a teacher who had taught writing and literature for twenty years, the author had received a great deal of submissions from her students about serial killers, rapists, slashers, and murderers and…

Writing Workshop is an interactive approach to teaching writing as students learn and practice the importance of rehearsal, drafting/revising, and editing their pieces of writing (Calkins, 1986; Graves, 1983). This study implemented a mixed methodology design incorporating qualitative and quantitative analysis (Mills, 2007) by administering a pre…

This issue's column focuses on two practices that everyone has learned and utilized but possibly have forgotten. First, Michael offers a look into classroom management and what he needed to learn to be a more effective teacher. Second, Terry asks questions to remind himself and other writing teachers of the importance of helping students…