Describes collaborative study done by a prekindergarten teacher, staff developer, and college teacher educator utilizing a highly integrated curriculum whose core was multiple symbol systems. Notes focus on literacy as well as beginnings of writing and reading. Concludes that within the context of high-stakes schooling, the teacher managed to…

Focusing on issues that define the multicultural society and intended to help students become alert readers, more purposeful and effective writers, and thinking members of the larger community, this book is built around selections by committed writers who demonstrate the power of the written word to record, interpret, and change today's social and…

This paper discusses expressive writing, which can be defined as writing in a conversational and personal way. The paper explains that, in this expressive mode, writers are allowed the freedom to mull over ideas and to highlight certain ideas, even as they write, making it a vehicle for learning. The paper presents discussion on the time (i.e.,…

Focusing on the middle grades (4-8), this book promotes an integrative and thematic approach to curriculum development. The book provides mini-lessons organized around three interactive constructs: the purpose for communicating, the audience, and the organization of the content to be communicated. Separate chapters in the book on each of five…

This casebook is part of a set of materials written by the members of the Making Thinking Visible Project. It presents the multiple perspectives of various members of the project (high school, college, and community college teachers) as they began to use collaborative planning in unique and different ways. It offers 21 articles in three sections…

This document, developed by Mercer County Community College (New Jersey) and its partners, offers lists of topics covered in each day of a 24-day course designed to teach General Motors employees the following skills: document information; write clear directions and instructions; outline and organize thoughts and ideas; write memos and business…

A study determined whether former participants in the Winthrop Writing Institutes (annual summer institutes based on the National Writing Project model) had improved classroom instruction in writing by using strategies taught in the institutes and whether they had continued to grow professionally. Surveys were returned by 49 of the 89 (1981 to…

Lifewriting is a form of autobiographical composition in which the non-expert, or even the beginning writer, tries to capture on paper the raw experiences of a lifetime. The intersections between family history and social or political events provide one set of starting points for the lifewriter who sets out on the neverending journey to capture a…

To improve reading/writing skills in a target group of 10 first-grade students, an intensive writing curriculum was implemented over a period of 10 weeks. The program included numerous strategies to improve beginning skills: using concrete objects for classification; using comic strips to illustrate sequencing; daily practice on correct posture…

Presents information learned from the planning and implementation of a Writer's Academy. Describes structures for writing as well as six useful lessons learned pertaining to: (1) teacher conferences; (2) peer conferences; (3) exploring the world; (4) writing with students; (5) valuing the process and the product to address national standards; and…

The information gained from analysis of bilingual students' writing can be used to inform instruction that helps students improve their writing in Spanish and English. The writing of one native Spanish-speaking third grader is analyzed, and instructional strategies are given for helping the writer improve content and mechanics. (Author/TD)

This article reviews recent projects using text structures and the writing process as frameworks to guide the composition dialogue. Learning-disabled students' attitudes toward writing as a required skill rather than a means of expression are confronted in the emphasis on dialogue. Several blank forms for organizing prewriting thoughts are…

Describes a study comparing the writing processes and written work of 33 female and male freshman. Students were given a Writing Anxiety Scale, asked to write two essays, and then interviewed. Analyzes length of time spent composing, number of words, use of personal pronouns, topic preference, writing anxiety, and writing experiences. (PAA)

Computers can help young writers learn to write well. Exercises for developing ideas, such as freewriting, are easily adapted to computers and enhanced by hypertext and thesaurus functions. Grammar and spell checks make editing easier, and the ability to rearrange text facilitates writing out of order and revision. Changing formats and fonts,…

Describes the visual arts as a means of helping remedial reading and writing students to "see" the process of writing. Discusses the use of clay sculpting to demonstrate free-writing techniques, Venn-mobiles to demonstrate compare/contrast techniques, and wraps (felt "tortillas" and fillings) to demonstrate summary writing. (Contains 10…