In this article, I demonstrate how the use of reflective writing assignments in first-year composition facilitated students' understanding of their own writing process strategies. I first discuss the theoretical roots from which reflective practice among student writers grows. Next, I employ my students' voices to demonstrate that reflection…

Suggests using poetry's short short forms for a methodical and rapid series of writing assignments that emphasize both careful writing at the sentence level and overall planning and respect for form. (HTH)

Describes the WEED program, in which students write every day but not all papers receive a teacher evaluation. Discusses getting started, follow-up, collecting papers and grading, incentives, and the results of the program. (EL)

Describes a writing assignment that leads students to see the complexities of cause and effect relationships by having them analyze a complicated court case and decide who is right and who is wrong in the case. (FL)

A major goal in teaching basic writers is to show them the importance of revision in the writing process, specifically revision for correctness (correcting), for creating content (adding), and for cutting out inessential material (subtracting). Revising for correctness includes varying or limiting the assigned revision tasks, varying the length of…

Provides a rationale for allowing students to write in journals that the teacher will never read. Suggests requiring students to write responses to their journal writing at the end of the semester, which would be shared with the teacher and the rest of the class. Includes a sample response. (HTH)

Discusses objectives that can be accomplished through the study of proverbs. Suggests a number of exercises involving proverbs that can be used to improve reading comprehension and hone writing skills and to develop a vocabulary. (RBW)

Shows the power of dramatistic writing, which uses representative anecdotes as well as argument and demonstration. Proposes that dramatism be taught as an alternate style, in addition to and in conjunction with argument. (EL)

Presents an exercise that guides basic writing students in their choices, requiring them to make evaluative annotations of each sentence in the draft of a paragraph. Includes (1) a set of questions that incorporate criteria for a sound paragraph and serve heuristically for the revision of the draft, and (2) a student example of the procedure. (HTH)

Uses the form of a Socratic dialogue to discuss the advantages of writers' workshops for students. Suggests classroom strategies and grading procedures. (EL)

Shows how bringing a major literary text like Othello into the freshman composition writing class improves student writing and encourages group involvement in the writing process. (EL)

Suggests using the writing folder for such reasons as gaining an improved description and assessment of individual growth in writing, getting a better descriptive picture of writing achievement within the class, and assisting teachers in improving their assessment of writing. (EL)

Presents insights that the Oral Proficiency Testing Program of the Foreign Service Institute can give writing teachers and focuses specifically on how these insights can help them to identify and articulate appropriate objectives for basic writing courses and to develop curricula appropriate to those objectives. (EL)

This handbook for teachers of English explores the development of writing skills in an academic context. The book is intended for teachers working in situations where students are required to produce reports, essays, dissertations and other forms of academic writing in English. The book's first section examines the writing process and establishes…

Interdepartmental rivalries between literature instruction and composition instruction have contributed to viewing reading and writing as disconnected activities. One solution to this divisiveness is a course in "the journal as a literary tradition," which combines reading and writing in equal portions. Students first learn about the…