A study examined three recent language arts textbook programs for grades one through six to determine the frequency of writing activities, the nature of the writing tasks, and the frequency of process-approach activities such as selecting topics, prewriting, sharing, revising, and publishing. The programs analyzed were Scott, Foresman's "Language: Skills and Use,""Harper & Row English," and "Macmillan English." The results indicated that these textbooks provide elementary school students with opportunities to write an average of one piece of extended writing per week, on a topic usually imposed by the text rather than chosen by the students. Prewriting activities and sharing work with teachers or peers were generally omitted. Revision, which was seldom suggested, most often focused on editing surface features rather than on content, and the programs do not provide for publication or highlighting of students' written works. The results suggest that (1) students should be provided with more opportunities to write extended discourse; (2) such activities should be moved to the central part of the respective lessons; (3) writing mechanics can be addressed in either the supplemental nonextended activities or during editing of extended works; (4) extended writing activities need to consistently provide opportunities for generating lists of writing topics based on students' prior knowledge, for prewriting activities, and for sharing work with peers and teachers; and (5) textbooks could do a great deal to show teachers and students how to select topics, prewrite, share, revise, and publish. References and tables are appended. (HTH)