This article describes individual differences in phases of writing development between typical students and students with language learning problems. Using an illustrative case study of a 10-year-old, the article demonstrates how school-based writing samples can serve as a dynamic tool for analysis of interactions among the linguistic and…

This article presents practical and specific strategies for helping students with writing difficulties become successful in each of the following stages of the writing process: prewriting, writing, revising, and publishing. Recommendations include using visual images, modeling prewriting procedures, providing word banks, providing a…

A study investigated letter orientation confusions (reversals) in the reading and writing of 10 children with reading disabilities and 10 typical readers (age 10). Individuals with reading disability made more orientation confusions. Orientation errors were more frequent for reversible than for nonreversible items in tasks involving long-term…

Four approaches to the investigation of connections between language by hand and language by eye are described and illustrated with studies from a decade-long research program. The four approaches support a model in which language by hand and language by eye are separate systems that interact in predictable ways. (Contains references.) (CR)

Describes a project that used photography to inspire and structure creative writing among students who were struggling writers. Outlines the writing process and the problems struggling writers encounter. Provides information for taking good photographs, making photographs interesting, and choosing subject ideas to get students started. (SD)

This article, using data from a year-long study of writing processes in an institutional context, looks at the demands made on writers in workplace environments as they make requests of their colleagues. Building on Brown and Levinson's politeness theory, the study takes a view of context as being a key factor in framing requests, in addition…

This book offers teachers a handbook for teaching literacy to diverse students in grades 3-8. The balanced literacy method combines the best practices of phonics and other skill-based language instruction with the holistic, literature-based approach in order to help teach reading, writing, and speaking in a clear and approachable format. This…

Reading Recovery is a short-term intervention for first-grade children with reading and writing difficulties. This longitudinal study investigated the performance of a cohort of 1998 Reading Recovery students on later literacy achievement as measured by the 2001 Grade 4 Maine Educational Assessment (MEA). The results showed that the average MEA…

Using Jeanne Chall's widely applied model of reading development, this book examines the strengths and weaknesses in the reading, writing, and language development of children from low-income families to help identify the onset of their difficulties. The book shows how, in the transition from learning the medium to understanding the message, the…

This booklet addresses the educational needs of students who, though not dyslexic, do have isolated reading difficulties and/or difficulties with written work, caused by a disturbance in Executive Function, a term borrowed from Dr. Martha Denckla meaning the ability to organize, manage time, perform independent tasks, etc. A question and answer…

Language interference (which was originally posited in ESL theory) involves ways in which language learners draw upon previous language experiences to fill holes in their knowledge of a second language they are learning. Since the 1970s, language interference has been a part of the pedagogy of basic writing, concerning itself with ways that basic…

As part of a study conducted by the Learning Assessment Retention Consortium to develop a student outcomes evaluation model, data were collected on the characteristics and skill levels of 7,500 remedial writing students from 29 community colleges in Fall 1986. Three methods of data collection were used: pre-testing of reading comprehension,…

To characterize the influence of various constraints on students' composing processes, a study investigated the (1) type of instructions students received prior to their composing and revising sessions, (2) mode of production--whether a computer or paper and pencil was used for composition and revision, and (3) effect of skill level on students'…

Acknowledging that ordering, spatial orientation, and synthesis are important properties in achieving clarity in writing, a study investigated the biological influences on students' writing processes and ways to help writers produce more coherent written products. Subjects, two males and four females ranging in age from 19 to 40, were tested using…

In focusing on recursive writing, the nine articles in this journal issue suggest that student writing should be taken seriously. The first article states that revision should occur throughout the writing process while the second discusses how to invite writers to become active readers of their own texts. The third article presents methods of…