A program was developed and implemented to improve and motivate students' writing in the elementary grades. Research data suggests probable causes for lack of student motivation and progress in writing. These causes include: overloaded and product driven curriculum, lack of appropriate teacher training, time-consuming and subjective grading…

This self-instructional manual was developed in Australia for people who would like to learn about the writing process. about it. It provides an introduction to the key features of four kinds of texts, covering: (1) "Writing for Yourself"--keeping a journal and "what" to write in it; (2) writing to communicate with others; (3)…

Intended for both beginning teachers and experienced teachers, this book offers a detailed plan for organizing a successful writing classroom. The book presents teachers with many new approaches for interacting with students and their writing. Following a foreword by Russ M. Burkhardt and an introduction chapters in the book are: (1) The Ten-Day…

This collection of 45 lesson plans contributed by English language arts scholars and practitioners provides activities that have been tested and proven effective with all levels of learners in middle school and high school classrooms. The activities in the collection advocate using unconventional strategies, competitive games, art and multimedia,…

This book was developed for two reasons: to show teachers, administrators, and parents how to have a successful year-long writing program; and to demonstrate that a valuable literacy tool is not expensive when it utilizes reading-readiness materials already in use. Intended primarily for K-1 teachers, the book contends that students can be…

This book, which focuses on strategies for content area literacy, employs a step-by-step approach to help students comprehend content area texts, effectively express their ideas in writing, and acquire the literacy skills they need to succeed. The book provides a research-based framework for teaching reading and writing with strategies for…

Traces the revision of narrative and expository text made by sixth grade students during a school year in which the focus was on improving reading comprehension and writing through instruction in text structure. Finds that only expository texts were judged to improve in writing quality by year end. (MG)

Reports on two studies to determine if teaching poor readers to use inner speech could improve their reading and writing skills. Finds that both experimental groups improved significantly in both reading and writing. Includes three tables containing comparative experimental data. (CFR)

Reports on a study of the communications strategies used in the writing of answers in biology by English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) first year biology students at the University of Botswana. Examines four macro-strategies used by the subjects: risk taking, risk avoidance, second language-based strategies and semantic simplification. (Author/VWL)

A composition instructor became interested in the playfulness of electronic discourse and how it might reshape student composition. He noticed that playfulness sets many hypertexts off from their better-behaved print ancestors, suspecting that the playful elements of student hypertexts were more than mere "play," that they opened writers…

This book is a collection of ideas submitted to the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) by elementary and middle school principals of 1996-1997 Blue-Ribbon Schools selected by the United States Department of Education. Each of the ideas presented offers a way for the teachers to raise students' reading levels and give them…

The practicum described in this report was designed to make a significant difference in increasing students' language expression by assisting teachers with the appropriate techniques to incorporate effectively the writing process in an integrated language arts curriculum. The target group consisted of 150 fourth-grade students and the 5…

Based on a teacher's 14 years of experience in teaching writing, this manual was developed to help General Educational Development (GED) teachers to guide adults to improve their writing ability in preparation for the GED test. The manual is organized in four sections. The first section is a discussion of frequent concerns and problems that…

Since her Certificates in General Education for Adults class had not achieved the required competencies at writing for self-expression, a teacher felt it would be an appropriate genre for her to model. She drafted, edited, and completed the text on a large-screen computer. When trying to decide whether each text achieved the competencies required…

This checklist is designed to help develop writing strategies for English language learners (ELLs), focusing on a variety of linguistic strategies inherent in the writing process. It provides them with a graphical representation of the cognitive process involved in complex writing, promoting self-assessment strategies and integrating oral…