Category: Writing

59 Reasons: A Guide for Teachers Who Write

In “59 Reasons to Write” Kate Messner shifts from teaching writers workshop and writing books for tweens to helping teachers build their own writing skills, assisted by more than 30 published authors. Reviewer Wendy Moore plans to try out their strategies.

A Well-Lit Path to Better Writing Asssessment

Writing Pathways: Performance Assessments and Learning Progressions can help K-8 educators at the grade, school and district levels develop effective collaborative writing programs, says reviewer Linda Biondi. Teachers will find extensive resources to build student ownership of writing.

Meet Writing Challenges in All Content Areas

With Common Core discussions as a sturdy frame, Heather Wolpert-Gawron provides solid commentary about how writing and literacy relate to all curriculum areas, says reviewer Kathleen Pham. Central to the sample lessons: project based learning.

How We Can Celebrate Every Student as a Writer

In Celebrating Writers: From Possibilities to Publication, Ruth Ayres & Christi Overman provide clear, powerful ways to recognize and encourage the writer in all students – even those reluctant ones, says middle grades ELA teacher Kevin Hodgson.

Teaching Grammar: A Sentence Composing Approach

The Killgallons’ sentence-composing approach to grammar instruction, bolstered by “a mountaion” of model sentences and mentor texts, could be a valuable tool if teachers would like to see less hesitation and more acrobatics in their students’ writing, says reviewer Jenny Ovadia.

Paragraphs for Middle School: A Sentence-Composing Approach

Don & Jenny Killgallon show how students can begin with basic structures and add more layers & nuances as they create sentences and then paragraphs. Reviewer & 6th grade ELA teacher Jenni Miller says the Killgallons’ use of engaging mentor texts & a 65-pp teacher guide makes this an essential reference for writing instruction.

Inspire Student Writers & Poets

Lynne R. Dorfman and Rose Cappelli, the co-authors of Poetry Mentor Texts: Making Reading and Writing Connections, K-8, have provided another “must have” resource for teachers of all disciplines – even poetry haters – says reviewer Linda Biondi.