Writing is an essential skill for participating in modern American society. Although it is crucial to careers and civic engagement, student writing falls far short of national expectations (College Board, 2004; NCES, 2012; Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) seek to increase the rigor of writing instruction…

Article described activities designed to help children perceive their world and express themselves orally and in writing. (Editor/RK)

Encourages language arts teachers to give students more opportunities to write in order to develop both their reading and their writing skills. (DD)

Creative writing should be a spontaneous experience in which primary-age children are free to express their ideas in their own unique ways, unhampered by having to conform to "correct" standards. (NQ)

Patterns of misspelling common to children's writing are examined to help teachers recognize the strategies used by developing spellers so that they can provide more focused and individualized spelling instruction. (HTH)

Describes how a comparison chart may be used by children in grades three through six to record and organize information from several sources for student reports. (DD)

Four child-crafted book projects help promote students' holiday spirit. The projects, all based on a simple accordion fold, resemble cards but open to reveal more than just a greeting, allowing students to think and write about what the holiday means to them. Projects include a poetry book, a rhyming book, and a memory book. (SM)

Advocating the whole language philosophy as an approach which makes language learning easy and fun for hearing-impaired children, activities involving reading favorite books, shared reading, and rewriting stories wherein new words and sentence structures are introduced in the context of the whole story or poem. (CB)

Suggestions are made for classroom activities to improve children's language skills. (JD)

Suggests writing activities in eight categories that provide remedial readers with the exposure to language that they need in order to improve their reading. (DD)

Considers ways to use creative dramatics to develop competence in speaking, listening, and--by extension--writing. (DD)

This book uses art to stimulate content-area language development and writing skills. From A to Z, the 81 animal patterns in the book combine with 35 different activities to enhance the primary curriculum--each student gets a photocopy of the pattern, paper, scissors, and some materials to decorate the "critter." The book's activities…

Reviews several studies showing that learning to type enhances children's language arts skills. Describes a program that successfully taught typing to elementary school children. (FL)

Describes how twelve wordless picture books can be used to encourage the development of children's writing skills. (DD)

Argues that James Moffett's influential model of a young writer's development is flawed, because it depicts beginning writers as being far more limited than they are. (HTH)