The purpose of this chapter is to explore the intersection of three facets of the Community Writing Project's (CWP) small writing workshops that are at the core of its democratic practice: (1) legitimating the experiences and stories of ordinary people as expressions of their cultural work in the world; (2) fostering a mutual relationship of the…

Reading in America has long been influenced by the stimulus-response theory. Today's students are reading less and less, and many are illiterate. A small Illinois elementary school is providing its students with reasons to read. The reading program stresses that reading is its own reward. Literacy clubs allow children opportunities to share,…

Advanced 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students at the Gifted Resource Center (GRC) in a suburban Chicago public school district are regularly engaged in various types of activities. The GRC uses language arts units for high ability students created and developed as a base curriculum at the Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary.…

THIS TWO-UNIT TEACHING GUIDE FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL COMPOSITION IS DESIGNED TO HELP STUDENTS BECOME AWARE OF THE DECISIONS INVOLVED IN ESTABLISHING A VOICE OR "PERSONA" AND OF THE EFFECT THESE DECISIONS HAVE ON THE IMAGE THAT IS PROJECTED TO AN AUDIENCE. AN INTRODUCTION CONTAINS A RATIONALE AND SUGGESTED TEACHING PROCEDURES FOR DEVELOPING…

MOTIVATING STUDENTS TO WRITE, THROUGH INSTRUCTION IN JOURNALISTIC PROSE, IS THE PRIMARY AIM OF THIS NINTH-GRADE CURRICULUM GUIDE. IT CONTAINS FOUR UNITS--"AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WRITING PROCESS" (THREE LESSONS), "THE JOURNALISTIC REPORT" (FIVE LESSONS), "THE JOURNALISTIC ANALYSIS" (11 LESSONS), AND "THE…

The English curriculum for grades 10-12 at Kansas High School, a small rural school in Eastern Illinois, consists of mini-courses with an enrollment of 7-20 students. Students must pass the ninth grade English course before they are permitted to register for mini-courses; they are required to take English as sophomores and juniors. During this…