Using Writing Projects in a High School Classroom to Support Students' Literacy Development and Foster Student Engagement.

This article describes the process used by one high school teacher to incorporate writing into her classroom. The teacher made several modifications to her curriculum to provide her students with opportunities to engage in online research, and produce text for real-world audiences. The students‘ comments indicate that although they were initially apprehensive they were ultimately excited to work on the project. The writing project provided an opportunity for students to use English language arts skills and interact with various nonfiction texts.

[1]  David W. Moore,et al.  Adolescent Literacy: A Position Statement. , 1999 .

[2]  Beverly M. Klecker,et al.  Theory into Practice: Congruency of Research-Based Literacy Instruction in High and Low Performing Schools. , 2004 .

[3]  Kathleen C. Perencevich,et al.  Children's Motivation for Reading: Domain Specificity and Instructional Influences , 2004 .

[4]  Steve Graham,et al.  Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and High Schools. A Report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. , 2007 .

[5]  D. Alvermann Multiliteracies and Self-Questioning in the Service of Science Learning , 2004 .

[6]  J. Barton,et al.  Less Is More: Preparing Students for State Writing Assessments. , 2003 .

[7]  Carol A. Bailey A guide to field research , 1996 .

[8]  Salika Lawrence How Literacy Assessments Transform Teachers' Instructional Choices: Secondary Teachers Report How They Prepare Students for State Tests , 2007 .

[9]  Salika Ann Lawrence Teachers' self-reports and documentation of their secondary literacy instruction , 2007 .

[10]  J. Cummins Language, Power and Pedagogy: Bilingual Children in the Crossfire , 2000 .

[11]  A. Ball Expository Writing Patterns of African American Students. , 1996 .

[12]  A. Ball Text Design Patterns in the Writing of Urban African American Students , 1995 .

[13]  Jeffrey D. Wilhelm,et al.  Reading Don't Fix No Chevys: Literacy in the Lives of Young Men , 2002 .

[14]  John T. Guthrie,et al.  Engagement in Reading for Young Adolescents. , 1997 .

[15]  N. Collins Motivating Low Performing Adolescent Readers. ERIC Digest. , 1996 .

[16]  Pamela N. Mueller Lifers: Learning from At-Risk Adolescent Readers , 2001 .

[17]  Nicola Irwin Personal constructs and the enhancement of adolescent engagement in reading , 2003 .

[18]  Richard T. Vacca,et al.  Supporting Older Students' In- and Out-of-School Literacies. , 2004 .

[19]  P. David Pearson,et al.  Looking inside classrooms: Reflecting on the “how” as well as the “what” in effective reading instruction. , 2002 .

[20]  Kristy L. Dunlap,et al.  Preservice and beginning teachers’ perceptions of the influence of high stakes tests on their literacy‐related instructional beliefs and decisions , 2002 .