This book offers 25 mini-lessons which focus on the elements of good writing. Intended for teachers of grades 3-6, the book provides practical teaching suggestions to introduce particular elements and strategies, as well as activities that will allow students to practice new techniques. Using excerpts from favorite children's authors' works and…

The role of the literature review in a research project is discussed, in the context of classroom research on language teaching. The discussion is intended for teachers undertaking such research with little or no experience, and offers step-by-step guidelines for conducting and using a review of literature in second language learning. First,…

The emptiness and nothingness associated with writer's block is often described as a kind of death, a place where there is nothing to decide, nothing about which to express an opinion. However, for students who enter the writing classroom from a different culture, the problem may not be lack of ideas, but conflicting ideas. Some of these students…

These 10 fliers focus on strategies to improve students' writing. The fliers are: (1) Improving Writing (covers general points related to all types of writing); (2) Writing Narrative (covers the main points to writing narrative, helping children to build up a repertoire of different types of narrative); (3) Writing Poetry (covers the main points…

This book is a story for and by real teachers. In the book, two seasoned veterans recount their 23-year collaboration to find ways to help students improve learning in their content area subjects. Over the years, the book explains, the two educators have developed a host of practical activities and strategies to infuse the processes of learning…

Offering developmental students comprehensive, step-by-step instruction for writing expressive, informative, and persuasive essays, this book showcases the writing process and presents a wide variety of engaging assignments. It strengthens students' reading, thinking, and writing skills; validates their diverse and unique cultural experiences; and…

This study described how a fifth grade reading and writing class utilized short stories to comprehend how authors used eight different writing techniques in their own writing. The researcher found that when the fifth grade students comprehended how to use a writing technique they were able to apply it to their own personal, expressive writing. The…

Third grade children from urban elementary schools in a southern city wrote, rewrote, and edited stories using strategies developed by their teachers during an interactive staff development program. They were participants in the National Head Start/Public School Transition Demonstration Project, a longitudinal study of the transition experience of…

This final report discusses the outcomes of a 3-year project that studied the effectiveness of word processing tools in improving the literacy skills of students with learning disabilities in grades 4-12. In Year 1 (1994-95), four text entry strategies were compared in 132 students with learning disabilities: keyboarding instruction, alternative…

Describes a prewriting problem-solving plan intended to help students achieve effective organization and persuasion in writing business documents. Finds that business communication students felt the plan was beneficial, particularly for persuasive messages, individual writing, and small-group writing, and that many felt the plan was worth…

Examines the reading and writing strategies of one student over a three-year period and traces the process she went through to acquire college-level academic literacy in English, her second language. Suggests that the student's educational background shaped her approach to United States academic discourse practices. (TB)

Examines both the complex writing performance of three students in a 2nd-3rd grade class and the instructional strategies of their teacher, focusing on the interplay between the children's strategy use and the teacher's instruction. Contributes to theories of writing development by recasting children's writing as performance within the differing…

This article explores the connections between strategic writing instruction and social identity formation in a ninth-grade combined English/social studies inclusion class. It shows how a combination of process writing and strategic writing instruction helped in their writing. Strategic writing instruction helped students view themselves as…

Presents a writing exercise for students in grades 3-8 that helps students write about themselves. Asks what will be found inside an individual's mind. Illustrates the lesson with examples of students' poems. (PA)

Describes how a group of third graders had an opportunity to write fairy tales using process writing techniques to assist them in overcoming their anxiety and dislike for writing. Indicates that writing strategies introduced through focused mini-lessons and feedback that valued children's writing choices were critical for the positive influences…