Draws from personal experiences in teaching a fourth-grade class in Canada to highlight the benefits for students of incorporating into the curriculum such playlike activities as shaping plasticine models, painting, cutting and pasting, and playing games. Identifies skills reinforced by particular activities and the benefits of the activities to…

In Writers in Electronic Residence, published authors mentor and critique writing from students across Canada via the Internet. Motivation and reinforcement are the primary feedback for the youngest writers, and gradually, critiques become more specific as children's writing develops. In addition to hearing from two or three mentors, children…

Results indicated considerable difference in total number of running words among series; an increase in different words for grades two-three in each series; repetition of most words in each series between one and nine times; and no high degree of word overlap between series or grades in any given series. (Author/CM)