This paper discusses strategies for teaching college composition, emphasizing "mechanical-meaningful-communicative" (M-M-C) sequencing. Under the M-M-C sequence, a student performs the following exercises: mechanical exercises, which build success in stimulus-response learning; meaningful exercises, which provide stimuli for problem-solving tasks; and communicative exercises, which promote individual writing strategies developed from the stimulus-response experiences. Thus, the M-M-C strategy combines behavioral and cognitive learning theories to facilitate writing development. Modular learning and programmed instruction are also presented as strategies to be used within the M-M-C sequence. (RL)