Examines a number of written texts from a longitudinal case study that compared the writing development of a young girl and a young boy learning to write in writing process classrooms in Australia. Finds that the children took up strongly gendered positions in their writing. (RS)

The authors of this article argue that professional development on literacy instruction should go beyond instructional methods to teacher identity. Reading and discussing poetry and literature, as well as writing to examine powerful themes in teachers' lives, can help educators explore and deepen their identity as language arts teachers. Casbon,…

Describes examining seventh- and eighth-grade students' writing for both function and audience as they relate to learning and conceptual development. Includes examples illustrating how audience influenced students' understanding of concepts in a science class. (HTH)

Considers register (factors that vary in situational contexts and produce differences in meaning intent and meaning exchange) variance with its accompanying language transactions during written language events involving children and adults. Illustrates register variance with the writing and drawing of a four-year-old and a first-grader. (HTH)

Describes how one sixth-grade writing instructor successfully introduced writing conferences into the classroom. Discusses some of the problems encountered, how they were resolved, and the final procedures used for peer and teacher conferences. (HTH)

Suggests cultural journalism--the collection and preservation of the oral history, folklore, and folklife of a locale--as a teaching strategy to encourage students to explore and appreciate their cultural heritage while strengthening their English language arts skills. (HTH)

Discusses observations of children's efforts to move from spoken language to written language and the acquisition of cohesion in first and second grade students. (HTH)

Describes the writing experiences of a group of gifted fifth and sixth grade students in the Active Learning Experiences in Resourceful Thinking (ALERT) program in Abilene, Texas. (HTH)

Describes the process one sixth grader went through in writing a short story and analyzes what this reveals about writing and the teaching of writing. (DD)

Reports classroom observations and dialogues with children that show children's understandings and use of punctuation; reports data showing that children in a class in which punctuation was taught in the context of writing learned more about punctuation than children in a class in which it was taught in isolation. (ET)

Examines structural ties that children use to join their sentences into a coherent paragraph or composition. (HTH)

An eight-year-old boy, Adrian, draws subject matter and formats for his writing from a new, digital medium: the video game. (Contains 2 tables and 5 figures.)

The first of a series of columns which will describe the progress of a longitudinal research project on the writing process funded by the National Institute of Education for two years. (DD)