Choosing a writing topic poses a particularly serious challenge for young learners. Topic selection affects all other steps of the writing process. Therefore, the writing topic should be related to a subject that the student knows about, is interested in, and can produce content on. Basing writing on students' immediate environment and experiences…

One ingredient that may serve as a catalyst for writing development is changes in writing knowledge. This study assessed the veracity of two tenets underlying this proposal: that skilled writers are more knowledgeable than less skilled writers, and that individual differences in knowledge are related to writing performance. Both of these…