Describes a project in a fifth-grade classroom that uses dialog to teach students expository writing and research reports. Describes how students worked together using all four language modes to explore a topic. (SR)

Describes a project in which students write their own notes, postcards, and invitations from storybook characters to other book characters. (SR)

Describes the procedures for writing "Jack Tales," adaptations of the familiar folktale "Jack and the Beanstalk." Discusses how this writing activity integrates reading and writing across the curriculum and effectively heightens multicultural awareness as students try to apply the basic plot structure to diverse cultural settings. (MG)

Presents a strategy to improve students' comprehension of content material by having them read, discuss, and give written responses to items pertaining to short content texts. (MG)

Describes how, through parent-student interactions in written homework assignments, the author (in her predominantly Hispanic American sixth-grade classroom) has successfully engaged parents in the literacy development of their children, brought parent voices into the classroom, and affirmed and appreciated the experiences, culture, and language…