Creative writing with deaf high schoolers began with understanding and writing similes of concrete objects. Lessons then moved to more abstract ideas, including similes for deafness (eight of which are presented). Students then shared their work with the class. (CL)

Contains suggestions to improve the quality of secondary social studies students' writing. For example, teachers should stagger expository writing activities over an extended period. The intended audience of the writing should include the student's peers. (RM)

Suggested writing projects to stimulate thought-to-theme writing connections involve: (1) haiku based on animals; (2) acronyms as vocabulary builders; (3) aromas and textures as inspiration; (4) writing proverbs and fables; and (5) a "musical chairs" approach to story-writing, with props supplied at intervals to test creative technique. (FG)

In this experiment in description, students in a high school honors English class were asked to select a surrealistic painting and capture it in writing. Their compositions were given to art students who tried to reproduce the paintings from the written descriptions. (SJL)

To dramatize the need for logical organization and precise definition, students are asked to write essays describing specific everyday objects (e.g., screwdriver, nutpick). After the essay is read aloud the class tries to guess the item and comments on the effectiveness of the description. (DS)

Displays student work in "portrait exercises"--writing designed to give students a feel for characterization and to prepare them for future writing. (RL)

Describes how the four traditional kinds of writing (description, narration, exposition, and argumentation) are used in advertising and suggests ways that advertising and the four modes may be used to teach composition. (DD)

This book describes "Writing Pictures," a daily developmental writing exercise in which students visualize a moment in their life of their own choosing, sketch it quickly, and write four guided sentences in paragraph format about it. Beginning with level one, it takes students through the basic format, and, with time, students progress upward…

Suggests ways to help students revise their written compositions by teaching them to "see" their work again. (DF)

Included among the 10 commandments for good writing are: (1) Write with verbs and nouns; (2) Write for yourself and other people; (3) Do not write in jargon; (4) Read aloud your writing; (5) Do not write cluttered sentences; and (6) Use concrete words and phrases. (JN)

A college technical writing class project on preparing an instruction manual for a toy race-car set not only showed that the students recognized their audience and used appropriate language, but also provided subject matter for other coursework. (RL)

Describes a writing assignment that uses the song "America the Beautiful" to point the following six reasons why America is beautiful: skies, mountains, grain, Pilgrims, heroes, and dreams. (NKA)

Describes a game-like writing exercise that uses the principle of "divide and conquer" to teach technical description. (PD)

Describing, evaluating, and interpreting the meaning and function of art objects provides language practice in seeking and giving information and in expressing reactions. Several suggestions for class activities and field trips using this technique are offered. (PMJ)

Notes that emphasizing word choice is important in freshman composition classes. (MKM)