This report discusses the outcomes of a study that investigated the efficacy of a referential communication task for teaching written language skills to elementary school-aged children with learning disabilities. Participants included five dyads, each consisting of one child with a learning disability and one child with typical language…

Project WATCH! (Writing Across the Curriculum Hawks!) was the 1999-2000 schoolwide action research project at the A.D. Henderson University School grades K-8. The study question, "How can teachers build schoolwide capacity to support improved student writing across the curriculum?", examined whole-school collaboration where all teachers understand…

This study describes a program designed to improve students' writing skills in order to improve academic achievement. The targeted population consists of third and fifth grade elementary students in two separate communities ranging from low to middle class, located in two midwestern suburbs of a large city. Evidence for the existence of the…

This report describes a program for advancing student writing skills through the use of systematic and creative phonics instruction. The targeted population consisted of first and fourth grade students in a middle class suburban community located in the suburbs of Chicago. The problems of poor phonics skills and writing abilities were documented…

Describing the SouthEastern Regional Vision for Education (SERVE) program and its mission to promote and support the continual improvement of educational opportunities for all learners in the Southeast, this paper focuses on the importance of improving student literacy outcomes in schools due to the demands of living in a technological,…

Examines the early writing of a young child over the course of several months to illustrate the struggle with the writing process. Draws parallels between the child's writing progress and that of the author as she learned to be comfortable as a writer and suggests implications for the teaching of writing. (HTH)

Argues that the positive impact of the Universal Primary Education scheme in Nigeria was that more people went to school, and greater numbers of them are able to read and write and seem better informed, but it also has resulted in a reduced standard of learning. Scheme planners failed to appreciate the importance of the availability of enough…

Describes one teacher's change process as she moved from a formal list of spelling words to a more individualized program, focusing on high-frequency words, student ownership, and sound/spelling principles. Offers descriptions of her spelling program as well as seven selected journals entries to show what her spelling program looks like during a…

Discusses the development and implementation of the Lunch Bunch Writing Club, a weekly parent-student lunch and writing workshop organized by a fourth-grade teacher at Edgewood Elementary School in Homewood, Alabama. Parents assist their children in writing essays or stories on particular themes while becoming more informed about their children's…

Shares the experiences of one teacher as she implements process writing in her classroom. (MG)

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)

Reflects on the articles in this themed issue. Discusses three recurring ideas: the need for devoting time to read, time to talk, and time to write; the organic nature of talk about writing craft; and the importance of teachers writing with their students, reading with their students, and making plenty of time to talk together. (SR)

This report describes a program for the advancement of student writing skills. The targeted population consisted of elementary school students in a growing middle class community, located in a suburb of a large Midwestern city. The problem of low writing scores was documented in student writing samples, teaching observations, and scores from the…

This set of two audiotapes and enclosed course outline comprise a self-study course that offers an alternative to instructor-directed introductory classes on using Roma Spalding's "Writing Road to Reading" program and auxiliary printed materials published by the Riggs Institute. Material on the audiotapes is designed to require listeners…

This audiotape is meant for use by teachers and others to learn the 70 common Orton phonograms in preparation for teaching their students, by adults who wish to improve their own language and spelling skills, and by students for practice (with supervision) after they have learned letter formation of the alphabet. The audiotape presents the…