Describes a six-month project in a second grade classroom in which students wrote descriptive sentences to accompany the pictures in wordless picture books. Describes how this was done first as a whole class, then with partners, and finally individually. Notes that each story created in this fashion was read to someone. (SR)

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)

Offers a procedure to help students develop effective strategies for using labeled diagrams in their research projects. (MG)

Presents a seven-step activity for researching and presenting information in the form of nonfiction big books, allowing children to read for information and write to inform. (MG)

Presents brief descriptions of 42 illustrated children's books, and notes how these books can provide support and demonstration to guide, inspire, and even instruct young writers. Presents the books in groups called: Igniting Ideas, Offering Perspectives, Revealing Self and Discovering Surroundings, Mixing Genres, Falling in Love with Language,…

Discusses how, in promoting more effective approaches to the reading and writing of information texts, practitioners in the Exeter Extending Literacy Project (EXEL) utilize scaffolding strategies to help students understand text features and incorporate these features into their written responses. (SR)

Finds literature to be the most effective model for writing in the author's second-grade classroom. Discusses five ways that children borrow ideas from literature and the function of borrowed ideas. (SR)

Describes a writing project for middle school students in which they learn about the writing process by creating "choose your own adventure" stories. (MG)