Using word processing in the elementary school writing curriculum is advantageous for both students and teachers. Word processors motivate students to spend more time on task, encourage changes and rewriting, and eliminate concern for neatness and the tedium of writing (and rewriting) by hand. Teachers can see that students using the word processor understand more clearly that the first draft is not the end product. Students become more open to criticism when composing on the computer, and the teacher can easily demonstrate editing processes without "messing up" students' papers. The teacher still uses the process approach to teaching writing, but is also responsible for instructing students to use the word processor effectively and properly and for setting up a classroom management system for access to the computer. Management and teaching suggestions to make the program function smoothly include (1) limiting computer time to 20-minute segments, (2) using a sign-up book or chart for computer time, (3) setting up a schedule with prescribed times for use, (4) discussing a student's text on the monitor as he or she is working with it, (5) teaching only simple commands, (6) encouraging peer editing while the text is on the screen, (7) providing students with their own discs, and (8) allowing students to correct one type of error at a time (spelling, punctuation, paragraphing) and to make a new printout after each kind of correction. (HTH)