Broadly speaking, all poetry is "found" somewhere, in something which inspires a writer to want to develop his or her thoughts in verse. However, inspiration is sometimes lacking for both experienced poets and new ones, such as students who are required to write poetry for a class. "Found poetry" can serve as an antidote to an experienced poet's…

A study investigated the usefulness of an online writing lab, Smarthinking, in a college writing tutorial program. The study investigated 4 issues: what Smarthinking is and how it works; what students think of the program; what instructors think of the program; and whether Smarthinking is cohesive with writing center principles and procedures. A…

Intended primarily for Kentucky classroom teachers and administrators, this idea book first identifies three major issues that members of the Writing Advisory Committee felt should be addressed so that writing instruction will not suffer because of use of the writing portfolio. The broad issues emphasized in the idea book are for teachers to: (1)…

Creative drama can be used productively in the classroom by allowing students to dream and to put these ideas down on paper. Guided imagery is a way of accomplishing this. Guided imagery is when the creative drama teacher guides students on a journey through the imagination. It can be used as a prereading and prewriting exercise. Listening and…

Comprehensive and practical, this book provides resources, strategies, and assessments that seamlessly weave writing into everyday classroom routines. The resources in the book include reproducible student worksheets, transparency masters, teacher and student examples, and technology tips in the form of Web site addresses. Strategies throughout…

All styles of genre research share an attention to particular features of texts in use. The question is, however, how to teach genre. This paper first reviews what seem to be two opposed theories of teaching genre. After arguing that to differing extents both theories rely upon a transmission model of teaching, the paper then discusses attempts to…

Many traditionally held academic views of personal writing have myths embedded in them. These myths include: (1) anything written in the first person singular is autobiographical; (2) personal writing can only exist in an expressionist classroom and is often uncritical and unproblematic; (3) student personal writing is a dying genre, and college…

This book dares educators to rethink their beliefs about how they design writing workshops, use writer's notebooks, choose appropriate genres, teach spelling, help students connect their reading to their writing, and even edit and publish students' writing. Filled with stories and work samples of real children in a diverse urban setting, the book…

The assumption for many college professors is that academic discourse is a hallmark of the educated, a form of communication accepted and expected both academically and professionally. Typically, academic discourse entails the conventions of a particular discipline's writing form. A writing center tutor and administrator must find ways to teach…

A writing teacher wanted to know how students perceive the second selves (alter-egos or implied authors) that writing teachers infer in their written comments on student writing, whether students saw room for negotiating the role this second self implied for themselves, and whether teachers can exercise control over some of the choices they make…

Annmarie Guzy realized she had some concerns about teaching honors courses as she prepared to teach at the same University where she had been an honors student herself. She enrolled in a summer seminar on teaching basic writing in order to expand her teaching horizons beyond the honors student mentality, and to address some of her concerns and…

Discusses the various aspects of writing instruction from teaching English script to teaching composition. (EKN)

Describes an exercise using gravestone rubbings that help students organize data and think inductively. (AEA)

Offers advice on good writing to art educators. Recommendations include using plain words; avoiding repetition, jargon, and esoteric language; completing sentences; focusing on the topic; and varying the sentence structure. When finished, the material should be put aside and read critically at a later date. (CS)