Full Description

Anyone who has taught writing knows that sometimes the hardest part about teaching writing is getting students to write at all. 

What we sometimes forget, Kelly Boswell reminds us, is that every writer is reluctant to write at some point. It’s the conditions––not the kids––that determine success. In Every Kid A Writer, Kelly provides six field-tested strategies to get everyone in the classroom writing with energy and enthusiasm:

• Use mentors and modeling to fuel engagement 
• Create a safe and daily space for writing
• Expose writers to real readers
• Offer choice
• Maintain a healthy perspective on conventions
• Shape writing identity through assessment

Chapters provide moments to pause and reflect, samples of student work, clear explanations of how these strategies and ideas support state and national standards, and practical, powerful ways to try out strategies in your own classroom.

As Kelly writes: “We want kids to know, deep in their bones, that writing has so much to give and so much to teach. It starts with us.”

Additional Resource Information

(click any section below to continue reading)

Contents

Chapter 1 The Shrug, the Slump, and the Sharpening of Pencils 1
Let’s take a glimpse at what it looks like in a classroom when kids aren’t excited about writing and then consider a few truths about writing and writers.
Chapter 2 Use Mentors and Modeling to Fuel Engagement 13
Writers benefit when someone shows them how to wrangle their thoughts into writing.
Chapter 3 Create a Safe and Daily Space for Writing 39
If providing a safe and daily space is helpful—and maybe even necessary—for those who write with enthusiasm and energy, how much more helpful (and necessary) is it for those who approach writing with apprehension?
Chapter 4 Expose Writers to Real Readers 67
When we invite students to do the real work of writing—writing for readers who matter to them––energy and engagement soar.
Chapter 5 Offer Choice 91
When we are given choices, instead of being told what to do, we feel empowered and respected. The same is true for our young writers!
Chapter 6 Maintain a Healthy Perspective on Conventions 115
Our challenge as teachers of writing is to strike a healthy balance between teach-ing conventions and overemphasizing them, which can quench the joy of writing.
Chapter 7 Shape Writing Identity Through Assessment 143
What if we stopped viewing ourselves as the corrector-in-chief and instead ap-proached students’ writing with a marveled curiosity?
Chapter 8 It Starts with Us 167
As we launch into this work, let’s consider a few things we can do as teachers of writing to reignite our own energy and joy.
References 173

Samples

• Read a Sample Chapter

Companion Resources

Teaching Writers Remotely

Remote Resource Guide

Writing Attitude Survey

Figure 7.1
Figure 7.2

Related PD Services

Speakers

• Invite Kelly Boswell, Consulting Author to speak at your school, district, or conference through Heinemann Speakers.

Email planningservices@heinemann.com if you would like to contact Kelly Boswell directly about professional development support.