In this study, the orthography and punctuation problem was evaluated within the context of the curricula and textbooks. The data obtained from both sources were assessed by way of document reviews, and consequently, it was seen that the orthography and punctuation topics existed as learning outcomes only in the curricula for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th…

A fifth grader wanted to know what he had to do to get all his ideas the way he wanted them in his story writing "and" have the spelling, punctuation and quotation marks correctly styled. His teacher encouraged him to think about writing as a process and provided the student with three steps as guidelines for effective writing. (Author/RK)

Offers a step-by-step guide to teaching elementary school children conventions such as punctuation, spelling, and grammar and includes a sample minilesson and 10 tips for teachers. An interview with author Donald Graves answers questions about teaching writing. (SM)

Ideas for incorporating five essential writing skills, identified by the Texas Assessment of Basic Skills, into elementary social studies courses are presented. These include spelling, organizing ideas in writing, a knowledge of standard punctuation and capitalization, ability to control sentence structure, and use of legible handwriting for…

An interest in conditions of practice and feedback led to a study which examined the effect on writing by elementary school students of (1) two types of practice, both similar to "free focused writing"; (2) practice at a frequency greater than once a week; and (3) a procedure by which students measured their own performance and provided themselves…

This compilation presents materials related to Andover's Integrated Reading System (AIRS), which provides quality education for first through eighth grade promoting consistency of curricula throughout the system, competence in teaching skills for mastery, student enjoyment of literature, and significant growth in reading scores. The compilation…

Elementary school teachers acknowledge the need for better writing instruction, but seldom have time for it within their already crowded curricula. Writing instruction suffers from placing skills development before writing activities, from emphasis on reading, and because many teachers are not well prepared to teach writing. A low priority is…

Assuming that learning to spell and punctuate involves making and testing hypotheses about how the orthographic style of English works, a study explored six children's classroom spelling during their third and fourth grade years. The subjects were American children of the Tonono O'odham (Papago) tribe of southwestern Arizona who were part of a…

Discusses nine orthodoxies, including the idea that spelling, grammar, and punctuation are unimportant, that decrease teacher effectiveness. (DF)

A study of the effects of a typing tutor plus a computer-based word processor versus paper and pencil on the writing of six elementary students with behavioral disorders found small improvements in capitalization, spelling, punctuation, and complete sentences attributable to either method, though story length increased for three of six students…

More than 100 individual and group activities, learning center ideas, and bulletin board suggestions are offered in this handbook for developing the writing skills of second, third, and fourth grade students. An analysis chart is provided as a diagnostic tool for determining the writing strengths and weaknesses of students. The activities are…

During the 1979-1980 school year, 23 Old Order Amish pupils in the Pleasant Hill School near Bloomfield, Iowa, took the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. On the language arts subtest, five of six third grade students ranked above 50% in capitalization, four ranked above 50% in spelling and punctuation, and three ranked above 50% in usage. Four third…

A sampling of over 100 ideas submitted by elementary school teachers at the Idea Exchange at the annual meetings of the National Council of Teachers of English are contained in this collection of teaching tips. The first chapter, "Getting to Know Each Other," includes games to help students learn each other's names, directions for making a…

Sixteen children in five different classrooms in the same, small, rural-suburban school in New Hampshire were observed for 2 years to document what primary children did when they wrote. Eight of the children were observed from age 6 through 7, and eight from 8 through 9. Three researchers were on-site in classrooms 4 days out of 5 for the 2-year…

Continuing its emphasis on a student- and response-centered approach to literature-based teaching in today's culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms, this third edition discusses these principles not only through explanation, but through examples of real teachers in real classrooms involved in the actual implementation of these ideas. The…