England's Leslie Stratta shares his views on teaching basic writing and assessing student growth in writing. (AEA)

Describes a creative writing assignment in which individuals write episodes about different characters and small groups collaborate on unifying the collected "chapters" into sagas. (RL)

Uses Chris Crutcher's "Chinese Handcuffs" and several other pieces of young adult literature to show how to teach literary elements and writing and reading skills. Notes that prominence is given to students' responses to reading and writing. (RS)

Describes a classroom project conducted at Mary Washington College to examine students' awareness of the demands posed by the various academic writing tasks required during the semester; discover how that awareness develops with experience; and orient new students to the roles writing plays in their academic lives. (DMM)

Describes an assignment in a business-communication class in which student teams construct portfolios with articles from "The Wall Street Journal," explaining and clearly expressing how these articles relate to class concepts. Argues that the assignment encourages critical-thinking skills, focuses on writing skills, and develops an…

A research is conducted which lays emphasis on how teachers can use bilingual student's writing as a springboard for deeper exploration into societal inequities in particular by paying attention to both the ideas and the voices revealed in their written words. The goal is to create an empowering learning environment in which students are able to…

Increasingly, national stakeholders express concern that U.S. college graduates cannot adequately solve problems and think critically. As a set of cognitive abilities, critical thinking skills provide students with tangible academic, personal, and professional benefits that may ultimately address these concerns. As an instructional method, writing…

Because most undergraduate students have two main interests--personal relationships and getting jobs--first year composition students respond positively to a series of career-based assignments which are both personal and pragmatic. "What Color is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job Hunters and Career Changers," by Richard Nelson…

Designed with real teachers and real conditions in mind, this booklet presents a model for a writing-across-the-curriculum/writing-to-learn program that can be used in all classrooms in all subject areas from grades 4 to 12. The model presented in the booklet defines five types of writing assignments and the outcomes expected for each--using…

This conference proceedings reflects the substance of the 3-day Conference on Written Communication, sponsored by the Ohio Department of Education and designed to provide professional growth opportunities for more than 350 school administrators, teachers, and university and state department personnel. The papers in the proceedings present a review…

Designed to be accessible for students and teachers and to provide models and alternatives for conducting research, this handbook serves as a common reference source for research in all subjects within schools and across school districts. The handbook includes sections on establishing a topic; finding information; developing an outline; making and…

A home writing program was developed and implemented using 22 second-grade target students to increase writing proficiency by soliciting parent involvement with home writing and to improve attitudes toward writing. Students attending a north central Florida school were supplied with a writing suitcase containing thematic story starter cards, a…

The process of writing a research paper must be broken into manageable units while at the same time retaining the recursive characteristic of the writing process. One approach does this by means of a series of assignments that also allow students to accumulate and practice the skills needed to write the final paper. These assignments are (1)…

Controlled composition--a method closely related to sentence combining--can be beneficial for college students whose writing is characterized by frequent errors and lack of fluency. Controlled composition consists of copying short, competently written compositions exactly except for certain stipulated changes. The assignments, which progress in…

One way to help basic writers become more effective writers is to encourage them to consider and write about what they do in writing--the problems they face and the satisfactions they glean. Using a scheme that involves using a hierarchy of stages of abstraction in discourse, students can be led to development of their writing skills. One such…