The paper shows the importance of Storybird, an online platform, for developing writing and storytelling among young learners of a foreign language. Storybird is an extremely engaging collaborative storywriting website that embodies three ideas--creating, reading, and sharing. It is also a collaborative storytelling tool that allows students to…

The article describes a student peer-evaluation activity in writing which not only saves the teacher's grading time and energy but also increases students' creativity and style while they learn to edit their work. (CB)

Describes how one teacher/poet communicates to students the feeling of spontaneity and ease with language, a similar sense of poetry as activity, gesture, and flight, and the notion that both words and sounds carry poetic meaning while letting students know it is acceptable to explore on paper while creating poetry. (MG)

Describes a simple writing process to help students become more effective writers in which students, by writing one sentence at a time on a single strip of paper, learn how to write a paragraph. (SR)

Looks at the importance of valuing children's play for its contributions to writing skills. Shares the insights a teacher derives from observing children in situations where they seem to be "only playing." Reminds readers of the crucial connection between assessment and teaching that should be maintained. (MG)

Argues that children's literature is a great tool for teaching writing in the elementary grades. Offers a list of fine children's literature the authors use to teach specific writing and "writerly" skills. (SR)

Describes the evolution of the author's children's picture book, "An Amish Christmas." Notes how he refers to "Christmas in Noisy Village" (1964) by Astrid Lindgren, a praised children's Christmas book. Describes how he used Lindgren's economical use of words and book format as a guide. (SG)

In this article, the author, who teaches at an elementary school in an area where 96% of the students live below the poverty level and many families have few or no reading materials in their homes, describes how her school has managed to create a climate in which children find joy and self-expression through the writing of poetry. The school's…

Notes that a premium has been placed on written composition in American schools. Discusses classroom research that demonstrates the power of oral composition. Suggests that to help all children become better composers, educators must involve them in authentic oral, as well as written, composition. (SR)

A Spelling Trend Assessment Sheet can be used by teachers to quickly assess and evaluate student spelling problems, note error trends and causes, serve as a basis for student revisions, and help address parents' concerns about their children's spelling errors. (MDM)

A self-monitoring writing checklist can be used by elementary school students to deliberately take control of their own writing, helping them to improve spelling, syntax, and diction skills. (MDM)

Describes a shared writing program which emphasizes the connection between reading and writing in a natural setting, in which first graders and fifth graders get together to write books. (SR)

Describes a writing course developed at Rutgers University (New Jersey) for increasing enrollment of elementary school teachers. Participants spend the bulk of their time in each course writing, discussing the writing in small groups and the processes and problems of the writing. (HTH)

Presents classroom procedure involving Telling, Requesting, and Coaching (TRC) to enhance reading and writing in diverse students as an alternative to probing for information without prompts to introduce lessons, which is confusing and time consuming. Notes how TRC facilitates students' recall by telling them the needed information, requesting…

Describes how, at the Alice Carleson School in Fort Worth, Texas, elementary school students have ongoing sources for meaningful writing tasks as they participate in the business of school. Offers examples written by students of in-house memos, letters organizing a conference, and solutions to school problems. (SR)