Writing is an essential skill for participating in modern American society. Although it is crucial to careers and civic engagement, student writing falls far short of national expectations (College Board, 2004; NCES, 2012; Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) seek to increase the rigor of writing instruction…

Discusses why and how writing can be taught in the elementary school and suggests some materials that can support an elementary writing program. (HOD)

Describes a teaching method for writing and language development in which the class meets around a large kitchen table and the teacher's written responses to children's writing provides a model for their skill development. (HTH)

Assimilation and accommodation are two approaches for developing language arts curricula for gifted elementary grade students. Some adaptations, such as more individualized reading may be readily assimilated into existing curricula. Other changes, such as providing opportunities for technical writing, require more accommodation of current methods,…

Research from various fields supports the crucial relationship of speech and writing. Experience with the Story Workshop used in composition classes can show how thinking, speaking, listening, reading, writing, recalling, and immediate audience focus can be integrated into every phase of the writing process. Activities must enable students find…

Why does one classroom hum with productivity and enthusiasm and the one next door sag under the weight of the work? To understand the invisible forces within a classroom of busy children, people must look beneath the surface to the relationships that shape behavior and determine daily patterns of teaching and learning. This book focuses on the web…

Reviews materials in the ERIC system that level criticisms at creative writing in the schools and that present suggestions for activities that promote good writing that is also creative. (HTH)

Describes a "directed writing activity" that teachers can use in developing writing sessions that consistently produce good results. Outlines six steps in the writing activity: prewriting, framing the writing assignment, writing the assignment, revising the draft, editing, and writing the final draft. (AEA)

Written for elementary school teachers who want to help their students delve into poetry, this book grows out of a comparison between gardening and writing poetry. Students at the alternative school founded by the book's author work and play on a plot of land near the school; inside, they work and play with words and imagery. Many examples of…

Interviews Jan Turbull about her work with writing teachers in the St. George Writing Project in Australia. (HTH)

Describes the instructional procedures used in a method to enhance children's concept of story. (FL)

Brief essays discuss (1) a teacher's discovery of the difficulty of the writing process, (2) various methods of writing instruction that are still only a part of the whole, (3) the difference between children's writing at home and at school, (4) a method for teaching poetry, and (5) a fifth-grade book writing project for first-grade students. (HTH)

The four mini-centers described here give a sampling of themes and activities for small classroom learning centers on writing. Short descriptions are also included of 20 other possible themes to interest students in writing activities. (SJL)

Story-telling is a language-learning activity providing many opportunities for students to use language spontaneously and imaginatively. As an open-ended activity, story-telling helps students to expand literate behaviors, to explore and to spontaneously stretch composing strategies into meaningful contexts before they set their pencils to paper.…

Designed for use by South Carolina school districts planning to include microcomputer language arts software for grades one through eight in teaching the Basic Skills Assessment Program (BSAP) objectives in grades one through eight, this booklet presents titles of software programs given a favorable review by review services, and correlates them…