The four authors of this article have each at different times over a ten-year period helped develop versions of the Online Writing Partnership between future English teachers learning to teach writing and high school students learning to write better. The authors have been striving to help future English teachers learn how to help high school…

In this article, the authors report the importance of teaching students about collaborative writing. When teachers are effective in helping students to learn processes for collaborative writing, everyone involved needs to speak, listen, write, and read about how to write well and what makes writing good. Students are forced to "go meta"…

This article provides an overview of the Autobiography Project, listing the topics of the ten chapters and the targeted skills that accompany them. The authors discuss the purposes of each chapter and describe the methods incorporated to promote the four broad components of literacy. This unit also addresses almost all components of the Common…

This article recounts significant moments from online interviews these authors conducted with Young Adult (YA) authors concerning the teachers who left a lasting impression on them and assisted them in finding their voice and unique writing abilities. S. E. Hinton, Walter Dean Myers, Erin Gruwell, Chris Crutcher, and other popular YA authors…

Proponents of programs such as dual enrollment that allow high school students to enroll in college-level courses often point to the reduction in time required to obtain college degrees, the increased likelihood of graduating from college, and the decrease in the number of students taking so-called remedial courses in college. But what do students…

Writing, reading, and dramatic performance have long been powerful means for representing and contending with thorny problems, and the authors see much promise in engaging students in authoring the dramas and solutions that represent their fears and their hopes for resolutions. In this article, the authors share a series of writing activities and…

Entering into a century of conversations from "English Journal," the authors read, and reread, the words of many mentors, colleagues, and friends, discovering some voices they did not know and rediscovering many voices they did. In surveying "English Journal", the authors highlight voices from the past, of the present, and for the future to offer…

In his foundational work, "English Composition and Rhetoric," Alexander Bain set forth the framework for what students and teachers now routinely refer to as the five-paragraph essay. Teachers were so inculcated with Bain's paradigm for the "perfect" essay format, they in turn have inculcated their students, and they just say now, "Write an…

For the past few years the author has been studying the writing lives of teachers, first analyzing the contributions of teachers to National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) journals for the ten-year period between 1998 and 2008 and then surveying and interviewing teacher-authors whose works appeared during that period to learn more about…

Writing effectively in a second language can be one of the most challenging tasks second language learners must undertake and master. English teachers are in a good position to implement the types of supports that can move ELLs toward success in academic writing by providing exposure to and practice with different genres of academic writing,…

An oxymoron is a simple contradiction, a juxtaposition of two inharmonious terms, such as "fiend angelical" in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." At first glance, literature and professional writing seem to be polar opposites; however, when one views them together, one can see unique, often interesting possibilities that add depth and richness to…

In this article, the author talks about the use of punctuation and describes a study that confirmed her growing sense that all students need exposure to and instruction on the full repertoire of punctuation. In an attempt to assess how much of the eleventh graders know about the way professionals use punctuation, all teachers at Webster Thomas…

In this article, the authors focus on the decision-making process that goes into professional writing and ways to emphasize ethical decision-making in writing classrooms. Professional writing has at its core an emphasis on action and audience. Certainly teachers want their students to write effectively--to serve their clients, organizations, and…

This article discusses building ecoliteracy through place-based education (PBE) within English language arts: some ideas of what PBE is, why it's important, and examples of how it might be applied. The author contends that observing nature and creating personal metaphors from the natural world can help students develop keener writing skills and…

In the authors' January 2010 "English Journal" article, "Helping Students Cross the Threshold: Implications from a University Writing Assessment," they showcase results of a large-scale writing assessment conducted at Central Michigan University, arguing that some of these results are especially relevant to English teachers working with…