Describes using drama to provide constant scaffolding as children learn to write stories. The 5-week process begins with collaboratively setting the stage, proceeds with scaffolding for reviewing the elements of stories (punctuation, the sequence of events, characterization, the plot problem and solution), and concludes with independent projects…

Swaffield School, a nursery and primary school in innercity London, developed a multidisciplinary recycling project, Save the Trees, which focuses on paper and its link to the forest. The project involves group participation in handmade paper storycloths based on forest images and development of stories derived from the storycloths. (LB)

Discusses objects, methods of instruction, content, and accomplishments of the undergraduate major in economics. Recommends a strong introductory sequence stressing application of economic tools, rigorous intermediate theory courses, background courses in quantitative methods, and a minimum of five economics electives. Suggests synthesis through a…

It is proposed that intercultural creative writing exercises can be conducted using the fax machine to communicate between schools, even in different countries. Specific themes and activities for French second-language writing projects are outlined. (MSE)

Argues that instructional strategies, like cooperative learning and inquiry-based learning, require new methods of evaluating student performance. Describes an assessment portfolio approach to student evaluation with four components: (1) a Decision of the Week; (2) a History Log; (3) Geo Storms; and (4) a Point-Counterpoint debate topic. Includes…

This case study describes use of apprenticeship opportunities in a collaborative writing context with two primary grade students with multiple disabilities in an inclusive setting. Analysis of written work and verbal interactions revealed the collaborative peer approach fostered active and constructive participation by both students. (Contains…

Reviews a teacher's approaches to her three language arts classes, taught during the same period of time but in different settings and to different ages: a seventh-grade class in an affluent suburb, a college class in a middle-class neighborhood, and a prison class housed behind razor wire. (TB)

Presents an eighth-grade classroom where students collaborated with the teacher to decide how to designate time spent on reading, creative writing, and journal writing. Discusses needs assessment, student suggestions, choosing the solution, and implementation. A sidebar outlines student-determined writers' workshop, readers' workshop, and…

Recounts the author's experiences teaching writing for several years in the New York city public schools. Relates his changing thoughts, feelings and assumptions about why creative writing matters (or does not matter) to these students. Concludes that writing can help people struggle against suffering and injustice, and it can also give the…

Disagreements over teachers' First Amendment, academic-freedom rights in curricular contexts are again receiving judicial attention. Two federal cases involving termination of exemplary high-school drama and creative-writing teachers have upheld school boards' authority to control curriculum context in disagreements over permissable subject matter…

Explores the implicit boundaries on topic choice established by early proponents of writing process pedagogy and traces these boundaries to a widespread cultural concern about the disappearance of a pretechnological form of childhood. Urges a dialogic view of writing that acknowledges the positive contribution children's media affiliations can…

The author discusses the power of personal narratives to help writers not only improve their writing and understand themselves but also think more critically. Through poetry that grew from her impulse for narrative, the author reveals her growth as a teacher who was simultaneously learning about students' growth and change. (Contains 1 figure.)

Throughout history, gifted writers have enriched the human experience with the power and beauty of words. These literary masters enlighten people to universal truths, expand their minds to new ideas and visions, and challenges them to advance civilization. Exposing gifted students to the vast realm of important literature can inspire them to find…

This book offers "teacher-friendly" lessons to plan flexible, interesting writer's workshop programs for students. The book gives short, self-contained lessons to boost writing skills and raise interest levels, whether they are used as a regular part of curriculum or plugged in as time allows. The book's 73 mini-lessons give the help…

Each chapter of this document describes a different project and approach for introducing students (elementary to high school) to oral history and folk arts. All chapters use a standard format in which a general overview of the project, describing themes, philosophies, and methods are followed by sample lesson plans, teacher guidelines, and student…