The research exploring children's perspectives on interactive writing versus independent writing was examined. Studies were analyzed to determine the perspectives of students toward writing when they experienced an interactive writing event and when they did not share this experience. Since interactive writing is a collaborative group writing…

The net effect of the early experiences of writing "compositions" which involved either describing the circumstances of a student's life or recounting the kinds of events encapsulated in that proverbially hack title, "What I Did on My Summer Vacation," has been a tendency for older teachers to devalue nonfiction as an object of…

This report describes a program for advancing written expression skills in the primary grades. Extensive research over the past years has shown that an emphasis on mechanics and conventions inhibits the process of writing in primary students. The targeted population consisted of first and second grade students in a middle class community, located…

Drawing on psychological, sociolinguistic, and discourse theories, this book shows how students use writing not only as a vehicle for participating in the academic world but also as a means of fashioning their own private and public identities. It presents case studies of four students during their years at a large, public university. The case…

This report describes a program for improving students' writing skills in the areas of mechanics and organization through the implementation of a Writer's Workshop. The targeted population consists of fourth and fifth grade students in a Midwestern community located outside of a major city. Evidence for the existence of this problem is shown…

This paper examines a program that teaches writing skills to students in an administration-preparation program. The program is broadly aimed at strengthening writing instruction and raising the level of writing competency among students in all departmental programs. The examination focuses on gaining a better understanding of the faculty's views…

This report describes a program for enriching language use in writing. The targeted population consisted of one classroom of fourth grade students in a public elementary school. This school is in the small rural community near a large city in the Midwest. The problem of lack of language skills in writing was documented with teacher and student…

Noting that the emphasis in writing instruction over the past 40 years has shifted from product to process, this digest focuses on the experience of individual teachers as they searched for ways to put the principles of process writing into practice in the classroom. The first section discusses writer's workshops, noting that teachers have found…

Adds the student's theory of the writing process to three competing theories: expressive, cognitive, and social. Attempts to put writing in its proper place as one small facet of students' lives, rather than relegating students' lives to the secondary status of one more influence on their writing. (RS)

Argues that, although most people dislike writing, instructors can make the task less onerous for young students. Suggests that the presence of both feeling and awareness of an audience can facilitate writing. Includes segments of interviews with professional writers and samples of seven-year-olds' writings. (SG)

Argues that the metaphor of writing as cognitive mapping can serve not as a basis for a new model or theory of writing, but as an attitudinal guide for concerns with writing and instruction. Notes that the term "cognitive mapping" suggests that the mental world can be seen metaphorically as a physical world. (RS)

Discusses self-examination as a prerequisite to authorship. Defines the soliloquy as an internal question-and-answer exchange enabling the thinker to distinguish better ideas from worse. Argues that use of the soliloquy develops in the student writer a voice of authority. Identifies the soliloquy as a device for exploring values. (SG)

Notes that the move from writing privately to writing professionally can be daunting. Suggests that various kinds of sharing, group interaction, and feedback from colleagues can ease the transition from private to public writing. (SR)

Uses the provocative metaphor of becoming a nudist to illustrate that teachers should write, and share their writing, with their students. Describes a program in which student teachers spent six weeks in class and seven weeks in student teaching and were required to keep journals in which they reflected on what they had learned. (PA)

Finds a relationship between parents' perceptions of literacy learning and the perceptions of literacy learning which their children were developing but, within this group, finds an extremely weak relationship between parents' perceptions of literacy learning and their children's emerging literacy knowledge. Finds that children were developing…