Spelling is only beneficial when it is connected to reading and writing. Upper elementary and middle grade students have a tremendous need to be heard, and teachers should focus on spelling for the power it holds in communication--people spell to communicate more effectively in writing. To teach spelling separate and apart from writing and reading…

This book is meant to be used with the 1997 publication "Challenge Standards for Student Success: Language Arts" by providing additional student work to illustrate grade level standards. The works are intended to provoke discussion among teachers about whether or not a student has met the language arts standards and about what kind of…

This set of six videotapes and a teacher's guide follows an interdisciplinary approach and integrates science, mathematics, and writing. The teacher's guide accompanies the videotapes. Six lessons include: (1) "Rotation Duration," which explores the time that it takes for the Moon to go around the Earth and studies the common Moon…

This document includes a booklet and presentation guide. The booklet contains the anchor papers used to score the 2001 Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) in writing, grade 7. Anchor papers are concrete examples that illustrate the intent of the scoring guides. The papers in the booklet exemplify the full range of score points…

Without a simple, defined structure for good writing it can be difficult for an individual to be confident of his or her writing ability. The Six-Trait Writing Method, developed by Spandel and Stiggins in 1990 at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NRWEL), outlines how teachers could teach students "specific criteria for…

This book explores the intersections of creative writing, composition, feminism, and critical theory in ways that speak powerfully to each discipline. It offers provocative considerations of writing and teaching, side by side with practical features including sample assignments and ready to use classroom strategies, as well as a glossary of terms…

This paper discusses issues of feminist implementation in teaching college composition, focusing on the difference between creating an equitable classroom environment versus imposing a specific point of view. It begins by discussing the difference between feminist pedagogy and feminist activism. The paper then suggests that a successful feminist…

The teaching of reading today is based on a rich historical legacy, and although teaching methods and materials of the past frequently differed from those of today, there are still threads and themes that have been evident in reading education since the earliest days. This annotated bibliography celebrates the rich history of professional…

The purpose of this study was to determine if both "writing apprehension" and "self-esteem" of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university students are related to the quality and quantity of their writing. Instruments developed for the study included an English Writing Apprehension Questionnaire, a Foreign Language…

As part of its Regional Educational Laboratory contract to develop a framework for continuous school improvement in its four-state region, AEL, Inc., staff designed the Quest project. Formative evaluation had revealed the high level of satisfaction participants had with Quest and the great extent to which the project met its goals at each event. A…

Heeding the call of noted rhetoric scholar Richard E. Young to engage in serious, scholarly investigations of the assumptions that underlie established practices and habits about writing, the contributors to this critical volume study a diverse array of disciplinary issues, situate their work in a wide matrix of theoretical perspectives, and…

This textbook book is an English course intended for use during the seventh and eighth grades and provides for study along both lines of language work, grammar and composition. The book includes a section on dictionary use. The final chapter is devoted to word analysis and was designed especially for the benefit of that great majority of grammar…

Briefly describes a beginning composition course at the University of Toledo in which students, if they pass, receive five hours of credit toward their degree. (RB)

Presents a comprehensive resource listing of new commercial publications for elementary and secondary English teachers in writing, language, and communications. (RB)

Describes a method of teaching composition that focuses on rhetorical strategies in fiction, poetry, drama, and the essay, and by considering how these strategies are used effectively to achieve particular effects. (TO)