Recent rhetorical research in professional writing raises the issue of the absence of discussion of "resistance" in professional and nonacademic writing research. A study of a biologist working at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico suggests that ideological "resistance" occurs even in the realm of technical writing.…

A program for improving the quality of student writing was developed. The targeted population consists of kindergarten, first- and second-grade students in an expanding middle class community, located in a suburb southwest of Chicago. The problem is documented through data collected from writing samples, anecdotal checklists, student interviews,…

The Motivation to Write Profile (MWP) is an instrument which was designed to help teachers gain insights into students' writing motivation. This paper describes the development, administration, and scoring of the MWP and suggests practical ways to use resulting information to create a classroom environment which supports young writers as they…

An interim study measured changes in attitudes towards writing and the writing process among basic writing students taught in an electronic classroom (consisting of 25 networked computers). Students in six sections of basic writing which used the electronic classroom for at least 50% of their classroom time, and six control sections which did not…

A study investigated the ways male and female fifth-grade writers compose short, open-ended autobiographical narratives. The research focused on whether students composed narratives reproducing society's prescription of reality according to gender roles, or whether they found their own voices, writing as autonomous writers representing their own…

The personal journal is a combination of class notebook and diary, a repository of entries which are recorded on a regular basis, are ungraded, and which remain confidential. As an instructional tool, the journal is virtually limitless. Studies have demonstrated the practical applications of journal writing for educators in the following areas:…

Viewing writing as a way to heal wounds and even reconstruct past experiences also helps heal the composition discipline's dichotomy between the academic and the personal, the self and the institution. Academicians are not the only writers undermined by this perceived separation: most incoming university students, in particular basic writers,…

A study investigated why children's drawing becomes less flexible and less exploratory as the children age. Subjects, 92 students in two kindergarten and two first grade classrooms in two different public schools in Queens, New York, were interviewed about their feelings concerning drawing and writing. Each classroom was visited for 1 week each.…

Combining freshman composition and introduction to literature courses can make students active participants in what they read. In one course, students were instructed to read a literary work for a class. When the class met, the students were to write the name of the assigned story, the author, and anything they wanted to write about the story.…

This project/study introduced the use of computers in one freshman composition course to determine whether the instructor and the students could accomplish more in a computer-based rather than a traditionally structured course. The assumption was that students would produce better essays on the word-processor and printer, and that the instructor…

A writing instructor, who informally surveyed 11 current essay anthologies to determine why such anthologies discourage students from reading and writing, suggests problems relating to three aspects of physical design. First, many anthologies alienate composition students by their distinctive textbook-styled covers. These covers do not suggest…

Creative writing is not a magical art from magic wands, but an everyday practice in the hands of steady writers. Creative writing calls, above all, for self-discipline. Along with intellectual and emotional stamina, a poetic writer needs sensory awareness. The writer also forms a mysterious sixth sense--intuition. In search of the good words, the…

A four-year ethnographic study was conducted at St. Olaf College and examined six assumptions about student attitudes toward writing. The study, involving administration of the Writers Block instrument, writing samples, and several interviews with three students over their 4 years in college, evaluated the following assumptions: (1) that once…

This study examines 240 preschool teachers' self-reported literacy beliefs and practices. Participants taught three- and four-year-olds in publicly funded preschools that are part of the Virginia Preschool Initiative program. Teachers completed a Preschool Literacy Practices Checklist that asked about their beliefs and practices regarding…

This book, one of a series, focuses on ways to help children enjoy writing and use it as a tool to communicate with others and express themselves. The message of the series urges parents and children to spend time together, talk about stories, and learn together. The first part of each book presents stories appropriate for varying grade levels,…