Presents the findings of a recent study on the writing and reading achievement of low SES children. Concludes that there is a need for more emphasis on writing for these children. (JL)

Reviews the research relating reading and writing, offers instructional implications of that research, and points out directions for further study. (JL)

Profiles the author of over 60 books for children and young adults. (JL)

Presents an interview with an author of children's books covering how and why she writes. (JL)

Presents reports from five educators on the research studies that influenced them most. (JL)

Reviews the ERIC documents that examine teachers experiencing the writing process and that describe the format of workshop and inservice programs that seek to involve teachers in writing. (JL)

Presents five strategies for helping elementary school students learn to write fiction: (1) stress topic selection; (2) use literature to teach fiction writing; (3) stress main character change or problem solving; (4) emphasize reality-based stories; and (5) encourage students to research their fiction. (SKC)

Reveals ways to help students learn that writing can be similar to play, in that they can use their imaginations to create new settings and even new worlds. Suggests using toys, imaginary trips, and including friends in stories as inspiration for writing. (SKC)

Shows that storytelling can be used in elementary language classes to build self-esteem among students, because telling stories drawn from their memories reveals students' lifelong relationship with language. Emphasizes the importance of choosing appropriate stories to tell, and discusses an activity where students retell the story of a book they…

Emphasizes that literacy involves more than simply knowing how to read and write. Explains how a teacher expanded reading and writing activities to all areas of the curriculum to demonstrate to first grade students that writing can be used as a tool to make sense of the world around them. (SKC)

Recounts observations of a child's interactions with Beverly Cleary's Ramona books, noting that she exhibited "passionate attention" toward the characters by becoming involved with them and discussing them often. Shows that the child's comments grew from observations to criticism over time, and her passionate attention to Ramona expanded to other…

Laments the lack of successful integration of current technological advances into American classrooms. Suggests that schools need to acknowledge the role, form, and function of the mass media in society, and that teachers should develop teaching strategies to help students cope with the iconic world in which they live. (SKC)

Explores the social meaning of literacy in communities and suggests that elementary teachers can enhance literacy learning by linking writing instruction to the culture of the community as well as to the functions served by writing in the community. (SKC)

Presents brief stories of two students that illustrate how children's symbolic interactions and social relationships (how they interact with materials and people) influence their ways of gaining control over the interrelated parts of written language, and how these "casts of mind" may eventually emerge more fully within their stories. (SKC)

Discusses the differences between preliterate, literate, and multiliterate societies. Describes how societies move from the preliterate stage to literate and then to multiliterate, and speculates about the future of literacy. Includes a literacy chart. (SKC)