"Voice" is one of the least concrete elements of good writing, and yet it is also one of the most important. Helping students find a balance between the "gush" of ideas and words and the "long-thinking" of reflection and craft, Tom Romano leads students to allow themselves creative freedom while developing the patience to hone that first rush into…

Writing--and lots of it in all genres--is at the heart of the language arts curriculum and the skills of critical thinking that students need to develop to become prepared consumers and citizens. In this article, the author reflects on her growth as a writer and teacher, and offers an overview of what people know about writing, what they need to…

Describes an adventure through writing and art. Discusses the many uses of the blank sketchbooks\journals that students make. Describes an integrated writing and art workshop in which sketchbook\journal items are developed into finished pieces. Describes the evolution of a focused classroom inquiry project (a lunar investigation). Includes…

Describes organizing a poetry "slam" (a contest in which people read their original poems and listeners cast votes for their favorites) involving 200 eighth graders from two different schools. Discusses how this experience made vivid for students the need to write for an audience and to revise. (SR)

Considers how the "process approach" to writing presupposes that a student has an idea, possesses a reasonable control over syntax, and has an appropriate vocabulary. Suggests that students need something "outside the box" to help them enhance the quality of their writing. Presents a project using multimedia tools to enhance…

Notes and discusses resources on the World Wide Web that deal with grammar and that may be useful to teachers. Lists traditional grammar websites, including online handbooks and style guides, but warns that the isolated teaching of grammar has little impact on student writing. Concludes that websites are needed that actually show teachers how to…

Discusses four books that will be useful to teachers who are rethinking how and why they teach grammar, and who want to connect and imbed the study of grammar in students' thinking and writing. (SR)

Describes a series of activities to help middle school students develop an artist's vision and then convey that vision through poetry. Describes how lessons progress from looking at concrete objects to observations of settings and characters, gradually adding memory and imagination to direct observation, and finishing with revision. Notes that…

Describes how one teacher worked with a learning-disabled sixth grader, who benefited from the opportunity to write about what he knew and cared about. (SR)

Discusses several approaches to creating an effective text, envisioning a specific audience and determining how much detail is appropriate. Provides examples from seventh-grade English classes and a literacy methods course for middle-grade teachers. Considers some broader implications of the framework that educators are beginning to consider as…

Argues that, taught in the context of writing, grammar can enhance and improve students' writing. Offers classroom examples showing how: good preparation for writing fosters good grammar and detail; students can use grammatical and syntactic constructions used by professional authors as models for their own writing; and how to help students learn…

Describes a teacher's work with a small-group Book Club format for adolescents (who were also parents) and a large-group workshop environment at a juvenile detention center. Shows that art creates powerful catalytic links to writing while serving as a catharsis for the young writers. Suggests that art helps them to concentrate thoughts for…

Argues that children are as deep as the ocean, with secret places inside of them waiting to be opened. Notes that it is powerful for students to learn they can make sense of the world through words, and describes inviting them into poetry as they read poetry, create poetry packets, and write and revise poems. (SR)

Relates how one teacher restructured her classroom to use reading and writing workshops. Describes how three at-risk students in her classroom, in the course of the academic year, moved from being at risk of academic failure to being on the path to promise and success. (SR)

Describes a project in which students in a seventh-grade English class were paired with university students in an English methods class, sharing weekly writing and responses via a computer network. Discusses how the project enhanced the teaching and learning opportunities for both sets of students. (SR)