Explores three elements of writing programs that keep writing alive: evaluation, reading, and experimentation. Includes teachers from various research projects who experiment in their writing, share it with their students, and enjoy what they do. (RS)

Interviews elementary children about their fiction writing to gain a glimpse into how writing teachers might improve their teaching. Found the following three features in students' growing knowledge of characters: characters can elicit readers' empathy, can change the attitude of the readers, and can have a mind of their own. (MG)