Standards can aid educators as they work to produce strong student writers who can create meaningful and skillfully crafted authentic pieces of writing. This once-a-month, yearlong professional development program, conducted during the school day, shifted a district's kindergarten writing program to a writing workshop model that enabled the…

Presents "Language Arts" reviewers' observations about manuscripts they have reviewed over the years. Focuses on: what reviewers observed in the language arts field; specific comments on authors' writing; and constructive suggestions for prospective authors. (MM)

Writing is difficult for students who are learning English, as they often struggle to express what they really want to say. Writing is difficult for their teachers, too, who often struggle to respond in ways that are helpful. In this article, the authors offer an approach that looks at students' writing from a functional linguistics perspective,…

Reports on research which argues that if students are to develop their own writers' voices, they must be given the time to mull over and make changes to their writing and to discuss and appreciate the voice in the writing of others. (SR)

Offers a conceptual framework for building language awareness through the reading of poetry, encouraging children to reflect on language in interesting and powerful ways. Provides an instructional model for constructing literature-based experiences in the classroom. (SR)

Discusses how a teacher was challenged to outgrow previously held beliefs about children and broaden her verbocentric curricular assumptions and experiences by a student for whom art stabilized and gave shape to his thoughts. Notes that the student helped bring real meaning to the idea that learning is "multimodal" in nature. (RS)

Examines some of the assumptions behind the imitation of writing models and questions the power of using this model for improving writing performance. (HTH)

Offers comments, intended for writers of language arts education articles, discussing both positive and negative aspects of the writing that the editors and editorial board and staff of this journal have seen in the writing submitted over the past few years. (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)

Discusses the differences between inauthentic and authentic writing, arguing that most writing in school is inauthentic, because it is written for someone else's intentions. Examples are cited from a classroom with an essentially whole language orientation, but which occasionally reverts to inauthentic writing assignments. (HTH)

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)

Analyzes writing samples of a child's letters to her aunt over a period of a year and a half to show how writing and reading influence each other. (SR)

Describes the mentor program of the Teachers College Writing Project of New York City. (HTH)

Describes working with multiage elementary school students on demand writing--writing to meet deadlines. Discusses why to teach it, practical applications, what teachers need to know before beginning instruction, getting started, introducing demand writing, modeling it, teaching beginnings and endings, and revising and editing/proofreading. (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)