Partly as result of the predominant 'narrow' view of writing in England's recent school curriculum and assessment, current primary school pupils often hold a skills-oriented view of 'good' writing for a substantially longer period than has traditionally been reported in the literature. This makes it difficult for teachers to promote and engage…

This multicase study explores students' understandings about revision in the light of successive findings that they typically revise their texts little and at superficial levels. Students' limited revising has been variously explained, both in terms of cognitive-metacognitive factors and restrictive school models. Few studies, however, have…

"Talk for Writing" is an approach to teaching writing that emphasizes three teaching methods: (1) 'imitation' (where pupils learn texts by heart, so they can discuss and dissect them); (2) 'innovation' (where pupils adapt stories to create their own versions); and (3) 'invention' (where teachers help pupils to create original stories).…

Describes a study of a writing exchange between a classroom of teenagers (mostly African American, mostly male) in the United States and another classroom of students in England. Notes that even reluctant writers produced responses in a variety of styles. (SR)

Developed for use in small groups, this unit focuses on developing the writing skills pupils need if they are to progress from Level 3 to Level 4 of England's National Curriculum. It is meant to supplement, but not to replace, the English curriculum for Year 7 pupils. The unit builds on the successful approaches of the National Literacy Strategy…

Adapted for whole class use, this unit focuses on developing the writing skills pupils need if they are to progress from Level 3 to Level 4 of England's National Curriculum. It is meant to supplement, but not to replace, the English curriculum for Year 7 pupils. The unit builds on the successful approaches of the National Literacy Strategy in…

Following the publication of an article summarising two systematic reviews on whether the teaching of grammar is effective in improving 5-16 year olds' writing (Andrews et al, 2006), the present article reflects on the relationship between knowledge about language and knowledge about grammar. It argues that there is no evidence for the assumption…