Reflecting current practices in the teaching of writing, the exercises in this compilation were drawn from the journal "Exercise Exchange." The articles are arranged into six sections: sources for writing; prewriting; modes for writing; writing and reading; language, mechanics, and style; and revising, responding, and evaluating. Among the topics…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 31 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the reader pragmatics of fiction; (2) readers' choices versus critics' choices in children's literature; (3) nonverbal communication in selected works of…

Papers in this report were presented at a conference on text characteristics, convened as part of the Learning from Text Project. The foreword describes the University of California and California State University Joint Projects Steering Committee project to determine the relationship between ability to learn from text and academic achievement,…

Analyzes how two groups of eighth graders and their teacher create literary texts during small group discussion, and suggests the importance of talk as a means of constructing meaning. (NKA)

The Newspaper Division of the proceedings contains the following 21 papers: "Exploring the Turnover Issue: Why Newspaper Reporters Intend to Quit Their Jobs" (Li-jing Arthur Chang); "Reporters, Robes, and Representative Government" (William Dale Harrison); "Above the Fold: The Implications of Micro-Preservation to the…

To provide preservice teachers with opportunities for contact with people from racially and ethnically different backgrounds, one university initiated intercollegiate reader response groups using the WebCT format, which allowed students to converse with one another over distances, both within and across universities. Students from separate…

Few events in history have had as far-reaching an effect on people's lives as the Holocaust. To stop the devastating cycle of hatred and prejudice, prevention needs to start in the classroom. Through education, teachers can bring light upon the horrible practices that took place in the past. In this curriculum unit intended for use in grades 6…

A case study examined the effects of primary trait scoring on evaluating seventh grade students' compositions. Primary trait scoring as used in the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township in Indianapolis is innovative in that (1) the scoring guide is assignment specific, written after adult raters read and discussed many papers; (2)…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The six titles deal with the following topics: (1) the role of adversative connectives in helping good and poor readers to integrate textual information; (2) trends in written products of general writing, basic writing, and basic…

Four field tests of Canadian software show that computerized interactive fiction teaches both history and independent reading/study skills. (ARH)

Self-expression is a key component that adolescents at a certain stage of development (eighth grade) need to be aware of and understand. Students are undergoing dramatic change during this time of their lives--they are moving from Erikson's Industry versus Inferiority stage to Identity versus Role Confusion stage. Poetry is a literary genre in…

Describes the One-Third Report method for motivating reluctant students to read and write: the teacher reads aloud a portion of a story; the class brainstorms endings; students read one-third of assignments, then write about what they need to know or hypothesize endings, which motivates them to finish the story. Includes sample One-Third Report.…

Describes "reader response" teaching techniques to enhance young children's critical thinking skills, build a sound literacy foundation, and clarify the relationship between reading and writing. Provides examples of response logs/journal entries, aesthetic responses such as drawings and dramatic reenactments, and student discussions…

In this essay, the author explains not only how she came to write her classic text "Literature as Exploration," but she also describes the path of her own professional journey. A conviction about the difference between "literary" and other reading led to her writing "Literature as Exploration" in the first place. In this book, she argued that…

Sharing concerns and interests of New York State educators in the improvement of literacy, this annual journal raises educational issues such as current thoughts about literacy instruction, educators' roles, literacy in its many forms, college-community literacy partnerships, and recommended reading materials. Articles in the journal are "Who…