A study was based on a perceived need for creative writing improvement. A creative writing program was administered to three separate schools in two districts over an eight-week time period. The first district was in a middle class community with primarily White students. The other district was in a lower middle class community with primarily…

The purpose of this 3-year data gathering and analysis project is to specify ways in which strategic instruction is conducted in classrooms, including how teachers adapt instruction to their curriculum and how students adapt instruction to fit their purposes for and methods of writing. The purposes of the writing instruction on which the study is…

A survey investigated the attitudes of 52 elementary school teachers of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students concerning their preference for product- or process-oriented writing strategies for this population. The teachers were administered a questionnaire on which they indicated preference, on a four-point scale, for 28 product- and…

This project book, part of a set of materials written by the members of the Making Thinking Visible Project, reflects the discoveries of 30 elementary, high school, college, and community teachers' collaborative inquiry into students' thinking and the process of classroom observation and reflection. The document explains collaborative planning--a…

Creative writing has fallen out of favor with teachers of composition because they have tended to link creative writing to the belletristic tradition of the nineteenth century. But if the nineteenth century can be accused of taking invention out of the writing process, as many scholars have asserted, it is possible to assert that the twentieth…

Drawing on findings from psychology, anthropology, and sociology, this book examines motivation for writing and connects writing with the roles each person plays--in the family, the workplace, and in social and cultural groups including school--and with the lifelong search for potential new roles. As a blueprint for changing the writing of college…

Despite educators' efforts to understand the process of composition, writing remains a mercurial process difficult to see or describe, even partially. Writing is a process even more difficult to grasp when the writer is possessed of a language--Chinese, for example--and must rely on that language to take possession of and write in a second…

This book is designed for teachers who are looking for approaches to make the teaching of writing fresh. The book offers suggestions for writing that are appropriate across the curriculum and for students in Grades K-12. It contains ideas for enlivening students' writing experiences, including an innovative use of the "helping circle." It advises…

This digest offers guidelines to help teachers prepare students with disabilities to succeed on state and district writing assessments. Teachers are urged to use the three principles of effective writing instruction: (1) use a basic framework of planning, writing, and revision; (2) instruct students in steps of the writing process and the features…

Discusses collaborative planning as a heuristic for dealing with the rhetorical elements often considered by experienced writers when they plan and prepare documents. Defines collaborative planning, identifies its benefits, discusses its implementation in upper-level business communication courses, and presents a series of examples of students…

This paper describes experiences in teaching writing skills to elementary gifted students with learning disabilities. Journal writing and word processing are found to be powerful tools in improving student writing while increasing students' self-confidence. Guest speakers, daily reading aloud by the teacher, and field trips to enrich students'…

A rationale is presented for improving the curricular design of intermediate- or advanced-level writing classes for foreign language majors. Seven practical guidelines include the following: the writing course should have its own place in the curriculum but should not stand alone as the sole undergraduate writing experience in the second language.…

Examines the effectiveness of imbedding strategy instruction in the context of a process approach to writing. Finds that the strategy instructional procedures had a positive effect on the fourth- and fifth-grade students' writing, for both students with and without a learning disability. Shows that, overall, improvements in story quality were…

Reviews four specific prewriting activities designed to foster prewriting and avoid premature drafting on the computer: freewriting, electronic journal-keeping, idea-generation, and online "conversations." Provides hints for developing lesson files, reviews current prewriting and hypertext software, and provides tips on selecting software. (14…

Presents a 10-item annotated bibliography of recent documents in the ERIC database that deal with the particular problems associated with educating students in the intermediate grades. (MG)