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 through level six. With each successive level, students are expected to write with more sophistication and attention to detail. Benefits of this approach are noted: teachers feel secure and confident; all students develop confidently at their own pace; grammar, language, vocabulary, and spelling skills are reinforced daily and weekly within their own writing; teachers understand how to get mini-lessons from the writings of their students; writing accountability and assessment are high since tests are given once a week; and connections to literature are made continuously. Appendixes contain 59 suggested mini-lesson ideas; a list of frequently misspelled words; a chart to help students learn past, present, and future tenses; skill folder charts; lists of descriptive words, prepositions, said verbs, and said verbs plus adverbs. (RS)