Web Resource Links
This collection of web resources is for faculty and GTAs teaching writing courses and is derived from Writing Across Curriculum (WAC) and Writing In the Discipline (WID) programs across the country. Writing topics are arranged by category and resources for specific disciplines/subject areas can be found near the end.
If you have additional resources that we can add or would like to see an additional topic addressed, please contact Julianne Zvolensky.
The WAC Clearinghouse, in partnership with the International Network of Writing Across the Curriculum Programs , publishes journals, books, and other resources for teachers who use writing in their courses. These are two notable and extensive resources.
Colorado State WAC Clearinghouse
International WAC Network
University of Minnesota: Online Grammar Handbook (a comprehensive collection of videos, Power-point presentations, & handouts on the entire writing process from a variety of institutions)
General Writing Across Curriculum Information & Writing Resources
Journals
Course & Assignment Design
Writing to Learn Activities
Commenting, Evaluating, & Grading
Peer Review
Revision
Grammar, Editing, & Proofreading
Specific Disciplines
Student Resources
Plagiarism
ESL Students
General Writing Across Curriculum Information and Writing Resources
Colorado State: An Introduction to Writing Across Curriculum
University of Minnesota: WAC & WID (Writing in Disciplines) Basic Principles
University of Richmond: Writer's Web; and the National Writing Project
Purdue Online Writing Lab
Manoa Writing Program at Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa Writing Matters
The WAC Journal
Across the Disciplines
CompPile: an inventory/searchable database of publications in writing studies, including post-secondary composition, rhetoric, technical writing, ESL, and discourse analysis
Course and Assignment and Design
These websites offer assistance in drafting course structure and assignment prompts.
Manoa Writing Program at Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa: Designing Writing Assignments
Colorado State: Teaching Guide: Planning a Class
University of Minnesota: Designing Effective Writing Assignments
Colorado State: What Makes a Good Writing Assignment?
University of Missouri: Assignment Genres
George Mason University: Writing & Research: Creating Clear Assignments
University of Minnesota: Teaching Writing in Large Classes
Writing to Learn Activities
Generally, writing-to-learn activities are short, impromptu or otherwise informal writing tasks that help students think through key concepts or ideas presented in a course.
Colorado State University: What is Writing to Learn?
Manoa Writing Program at Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa: Helping Students Make Connections
University of Richmond: Write-to-Learn Activities
University of Hawaii at Manoa: Writing Activities to get Students Thinking and Learning
University of Minnesota: Assignments and Activities: Approaches and Samples
University of Wisconsin-Madison: Designing Assignments and Courses
Manoa Writing Program at Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa: Using Writing to Improve Reading
Manoa Writing Program at Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa: Writing & Research
Commenting, Evaluating, and Grading
These sources give information about various commenting strategies that aim at formative feedback to help improve students' writing.
Colorado State: Evaluating Writing Assignments
Colorado State: Teaching in the Margins: Commenting on Student Writing
University of Minnesota: Responding and Grading: Approaches and Samples
George-Mason University: Managing the Paper load and Responding Effectively to Student Writing
George-Mason University: Return on Investment: 4 Core Strategies for Commenting on Student Essays
Washington University, St. Louis: Tips for Commenting on Student Writing
Peer Review
Peer-review workshops serve many useful functions for student writers. Most notably, they provide writers with real readers who must make sense of the writing, they help writers improve their reading/critical analysis skills, and they help writers improve their writing skills and final products.
Colorado State: Teaching Guide: Using Student Peer Review
Washington University, St. Louis: Using Peer Review to Help Students Improve Their Writing
George Mason University: How to Help Students Give Effective Peer Response
University of Wisconsin-Madison: Peer Review Across Disciplines
MIT: No One Writes Alone: Peer Review in the Classroom, A guide for Instructors
Revision
Most arguments, especially research-based arguments, require careful revision to be fully effective. These sources offer information for both instructors and students about the revision process.
Colorado State: Reviewing and Revising an Argument
Colorado State: Questions to ask as you revise your essay
Colorado State: Revision: History Theory, and Practice
Purdue OWL: Higher and Lower Order of Concerns
Purdue OWL: Steps for Revising Your Paper
Grammar, Editing, and Proofreading
Students who use a system for tracking their individual patterns of error and are held accountable for using that system to proofread their papers are more likely to improve their sentence-level errors over the course of the term. Below are some resources to help them achieve such ends.
Colorado State: Teaching Guide: Error Pattern Analysis
Colorado State: Editing and Proofreading Strategies
University of Minnesota: Approaches to to teaching grammar and mechanics
University of Minnesota: Online Grammar Handbook
Texas A&M: Handouts & Guides
Purdue OWL: Proofreading: Where do I begin?
Purdue OWL: Finding Common Errors
Specific Disciplines
In this section, find websites that target specific subject areas or topics directly as well as some that compile a variety of examples of syllabi and assignments from various subject areas.
University of Minnesota: Additional Resources: Browse by Discipline
Texas A&M:
What are you Writing?
North Carolina State:
LabWrite: Improving Lab Reports
Bowdoin College:
Reading, Writing, and Researching in History: A guide for colleg
e students
University of Richmond:
Writer's Web: Examples of writing in different discipline
s
Electronic Communication Across the Curriculum
Electonic Communication Across the Curriculum:
Tips for Generating Engaged Online Discussions
Colorado State:
Teaching Guide: Teaching with Technology
Colorado State:
Teaching Guide: Conducting Online Discussions
Rice University:
How to Read a Scientific Article
University of North Carolina:
How to incorporate figures and charts into your writing
Student Resources
Colorado State:
Questions to ask as you Revise your essay
Purdue:
Online Writing Lab
Swarthmore:
Student Resources on different parts of the Writing Process
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign:
Writer Resources: Grammar Handbook
University of Minnesota:
Online Grammar Handbook
Plagiarism
University of Minnesota: Writing with Sources
Colorado State: Teaching Guide:
Dealing with Plagiarism
George Mason: Helping Student Avoid Plagiarism
ESL Students
Manoa Writing Program at Univ. of Hawaii, Manoa: Working with ESL Students' Writing: Opportunities for Language Learning