Writing Instruction: Current Practices in the Classroom. ERIC Digest.

Noting that the emphasis in writing instruction over the past 40 years has shifted from product to process, this digest focuses on the experience of individual teachers as they searched for ways to put the principles of process writing into practice in the classroom. The first section discusses writer's workshops, noting that teachers have found them effective in helping students (from as early as first grade) master the principles of process writing, and that they also improve students' feelings and attitudes about writing. The second section deals with questions about writer's workshops and potential problems that need to be considered. Journal writing is discussed in the third section. The digest's final section examines writing instruction in the upper grades, finding a predominantly "modernist" writing curriculum that fails to encourage proficient writers because it does not allow students the chance to experiment with various approaches beyond the five-paragraph essay structure. (SR)