A study analyzed 368 letters (179 children letters and 189 adult letters) in order to document children's thinking about the substance of the epistolary genre and to determine the influence of the adult pen pal letters on the children's letters. Students, 19 third graders and 19 college students, were randomly paired as pen pals. Establishing six…

Describes the use of a real-time Local Area Network (LAN) in a basic reading and writing course. Argues that student use of real-time networks encourages democratization. Suggests that real-time writing offers opportunities to learn about writing, communication, topic exploration, brainstorming, and the role of identities in discourse. (SG)

Discusses ways that whole-language teachers can address the concerns raised by parents and others about why they do not teach spelling and handwriting in isolation but as part of various reading and writing activities. Notes that teachers often need to explain and justify their expertise and teaching methods to individuals not familiar with the…

Data from student journals in an English-as-a-Second-Language writing practicum are used to trace the process by which practice of and reflection on specific activities change awareness of and attitudes toward writing and the teaching of writing. The paper demonstrates the necessity of integrating training and development in teacher education.…

Examines the impact of a pilot project in which undergraduates at Roane State Community College e-mailed drafts of essays to graduate students at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock who returned the drafts through e-mail with comments. Finds that students felt the experience was helpful. Discusses benefits of collaboration between two- and…

Offers a close look at how three eighth-grade students used their writer's notebooks, examining what they thought of their writer's notebooks, what purposes they used them for, and how their responses changed over the course of the school year. Notes that the authors learned that their involvement in the writer's notebook was vital. Includes…

A yearlong study investigated the effects of whole language-based instruction on the writing development of eight Spanish-speaking and eight English-speaking kindergarten children. The writing skills of the Spanish-speaking children developed similarly to those of the English-speaking children, refuting rationales used to place Spanish-speaking…

Suggests that the revolutionary potentials of network technologies are not intrinsic to the technologies. Uses experiences of Daedalus Interchange in composition classrooms to argue for critical engagement with technologies. Suggests that unless writing teachers critically address students' perceptions of writing, they will replicate the same…

Presents four case studies to examine how first and second graders worked together using source texts to write their own informational books. Concludes that all four pairs of students were successful in many ways. Notes how the students saw themselves as experts, and were able to see firsthand how important reading and writing were in their…

Describes the author's experiences teaching composition to inmates at a women's minimum security prison. Describes how these students wrote with alacrity and passion, using writing as a tool to solve problems and enlighten. Discusses how mandated curriculum and assignment requirements were met, revisions made and issues of dialect discussed, while…

Investigates cross-cultural tensions in Western writing pedagogy as reflected in Turkish teachers' oppositional and accommodative attitudes and how those attitudes played out in classroom interactions. Discusses teachers' perceptions concerning the effects of Western rhetorical styles on Turkish students' thinking and identity, assumptions…

Studied children's perceptions of what constitutes good writing to see how those might better inform the teacher's instruction. Found that when supported by peers and teachers, the children were able to balance their need to produce conventionally correct writing with their need to make writing interesting to themselves and others. (Author)

In a 3-year longitudinal, mixed-method study, 67 children in two schools were observed during literacy activities in Grades 1-3. Children and their teachers were interviewed each year about the children's motivation to read and write. Taking a grounded theory approach, content analysis of the child interview protocols identified the motivations…

A writing seminar on the writing process required senior students at Rollins College (Florida) to bring to class with them piles of their previous compositions and drafts. Their first assignment was to research the composing process of a well-known writer and then write a paper about it. After that, they turned to their own work. The objective was…

Six teacher-researchers (three elementary school teachers, one teacher of hearing-impaired, one Chapter One teacher, and one university researcher) investigated how their membership in a community of writers affected their perceptions of themselves as writers. Three themes emerged in transcriptions of biweekly meetings held over one school year:…