The keeping of journals by students in the basic speech course is the focus of this paper, which is divided into three parts. Part 1 examines the benefits of journal use to students and teachers and points out that three types of learning can thus be encouraged: the development of thinking skills, personal growth, and content learning. It also…

Helping first graders develop writing skills is the focus of this paper. The first part of the paper discusses 11 ideas likely to be crucial to any first grade writing program, such as the similarities between learning to talk and writing, and the teacher as the model writer. The second part of the paper outlines creative writing activities…

A developmental English program for a liberal arts college should be individualized and intellectually challenging to students entering a four-year baccalaureate program. Such a program must emphasize motivation, flexibility, and a well-conceived progression for acquiring skills. It should view writing as a holistic process and should use such…

Rhetoric, the persuasive use of language to influence public thought and action, is experienced in advertising, and advertising can be used as a medium for teaching rhetoric. Advertising demonstrates both admirable and creative use of English and despicable corruption of both language and thought. Both aspects can be employed in teaching…

This document presents the results of a survey concerning the percentage of mathematics, science, and social studies teachers who assign writing to their students and the percentage of textbooks in these three content areas which include writing assignments. Some of the findings were that mathematics and science teachers favor reporting over…

This paper initially presents the results of several studies concerning what kind of writing science teachers assign and what kind of writing science textbooks assign. By far, reporting was the most popular type of writing assigned in the surveyed textbooks, although other types of writing were in evidence. Exposition tended to take three forms:…

Focuses on the writing instruction which the 1977 NCTE Achievement Award- winning students had received, concluding that writing frequency, type of assigned writing topics, and class size affect writing instruction and that successful writers are dedicated readers. (DD)

Study strategies used to assist mildly handicapped students become more actively engaged and successful in gaining and responding to information in content area classes are described. They include using advance organizers, summarizing/paraphrasing what is read, enhancing listening skills, and improving the organization, appearance, and accuracy of…

Explains how the use of parody can improve students' writing and add more zest, zing, and vigor to their writing style. (HOD)

This book is based on the premise that a writer is much like an artist who paints images, only using grammatical structures as tools. In conjunction with this approach, each chapter is divided into concepts and strategies: concepts illustrate how professional writers have applied image grammar to develop their art, and strategies provide…

This digest explores the literature related to journal writing from various disciplines, including psychology, language studies, outdoor education, and experiential education. Although journal writing has been around since ancient times, it was not until the early 1960s that it flourished as a learning tool. Instructors from a wide range of…

Pupils need variety in their writing experiences, and social studies writing involves writing across the curriculum as well as stressing positive attitudes and feelings of the learner. Subject matter should come from the pupil, and diverse learning opportunities should assist the pupil in acquiring the relevant facts, concepts, and main ideas…

Describes and illustrates a writing assignment in which students assume the role and the voice of someone they perceive as different from themselves, requiring attention to appropriate--not necessarily "correct"--language styles. (RL)