Twenty-one learning-disabled eighth and eleventh graders wrote essays and answered a questionnaire concerning metacognition. Subjects were comparable to normally achieving sixth graders in their essays' interestingness, clarity in communication of goals, word choice, paragraph structure, and metacognition about the writing process. (Author/JDD)

Winning essays written for the "Winning Words" international science competition are presented. A description of the competition, a summary of subjects chosen by grade level, a summary of entries, schools participating, and prizes are included. (KR)

We analyzed the content of school-aged children's responses to a countywide in-class essay assignment in which they described what they are thankful for. Accounts were written in November of 2000 (n=152) and 2001 (n=196). We identified the most prominent themes of children's gratitude as well as differences in the themes that emerged before and…

A high school teacher has created a unit to help uninspired seniors write personal essays for college applications. Students could move away from formulas to regain their freedom and voice in writing with the help of carefully developed steps.

The author describes his experience teaching a writing group in Martin Tennessee jail. The faces of most of the inmates showed curiosity. Each was saying not in words, but by gesture, "help make better this boring existence." The first essays the inmates wrote were about themselves and other members of their family. Some have written…

What syntactic patterns emerge in students' use of articles and modals? What are the reasons for these patterns? What implications do the findings of the study have for English language instruction in Botswana? Exactly 1556 essays comprising class assignments, written seminar presentations, test papers and examination scripts from 514 randomly…

The introduction of the SAT Reasoning Test™ with a writing section in March 2005 and the concomitant elimination of the SAT® Subject Test in Writing after January 2005 have led many colleges and institutions to ask for guidance in using the new SAT Reasoning Test writing section scores for college placement and admissions. Standard-setting…

A study of 24 composition anthologies that reprinted E. B. White's "Once More to the Lake" reveals a number of disturbing assumptions among the editors of these anthologies. Four areas of examinations were concentrated on: (1) classifications of White's essay; (2) thematic categories; (3) suggestions for writing; (4) study apparatuses;…

THE FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THIS DOCUMENT: LEVEL: College. AUTHOR'S COMMENT: When I first began as a college composition instructor, I gave a standard explanation that definition was necessary if students wished to argue logically or to explain an unfamiliar subject. I showed examples of definitions, discussed ones in the text, and then sent…

Combining the study of archetypal patterns and literature study with assignments based on archetypal schema engages students intellectually as they relate their personal experiences to texts outside of themselves. This approach is grounded in the theory that engagement in a topic, whether reading or writing, is essential for the learner to make…

LITERATURE, BEING READILY AVAILABLE AS PART OF THE CURRICULUM, IS A VALUABLE TOOL FOR INSTRUCTING STUDENTS IN COMPOSITION. THE USE OF LITERATURE CAN STIMULATE DISCUSSIONS AND EFFECTIVE WRITING AMONG STUDENTS OF VARIOUS GRADE AND ABILITY LEVELS. INTEREST IS GENERATED BY KEEPING THE CLASSWORK RELEVANT TO THE LIVES OF THE STUDENTS, AND THINKING IS…

Those who argue for the inclusion of literature in composition courses point out that English teachers must teach from their area of expertise and that the use of literature endorses creative and imaginative use of language, avoids what is merely utilitarian and boring, and promotes growth in thinking. Those who oppose the use of literature in…

This book presents fourteen of R. B. Heilman's essays on the teaching of English and the profession of the humanities. Discussed are administrative ways and means, pedagogical shibboleths and heresies, uses and abuses of literacy, cliches of style, moot issues of history and criticism, and the nature of the humanities and their continuing…

Emphasizes the importance of having students write "artistic" responses to literature, thereby revealing what meaning the literary work has for them. (HOD)

A reevaluation of novelist Richard Wright's first book, which is a collection of five short stories-- Big Boy Leaves Home,'' Down by the Riverside,'' Long Black Song,'' Fire and Cloud,'' and Bright and Morning Star''--and an introductory essay, The Ethics of Living Jim Crow.'' (JM)