Tools for Writing : Creating Writer's Workshops for Grades 2-8

A series of teacher-friendly lessons designed to create a writers′ workshop for pupils aged between seven and 13 years is contained in this step-by-step guide. The lessons range from introducing the terminology and methods of a writers′ workshop to students to complex processes in creative and journalistic writing. Using the praise, questions and polish (PQP) strategies, each 10- to 15-minute lesson teaches a very specific writing skill.

Make your students′ writing come alive "A wonderful and practical approach." Betty H. Kansler, College of Notre Dame of Maryland "A valuable resource for all teachers. A clearly written guide that contains lots of examples." Colleen Fallano, Teacher, Villa Cresta Elementary, Baltimore County Public Schools "This book really helped my students′ descriptive writing. The students asked, ′Could we try this again?′" Barbara Yingling, Teacher, Villa Cresta Elementary, Baltimore County Public Schools Use the "teacher-friendly" lessons in this book to plan flexible, interesting writing workshop programs for your class. Whether they are used as a regular part of curriculum or plugged in as time allows, the short, self-contained lessons here will boost skills and raise interest levels. Your students will learn how to: * Show it, not tell it * Use lead-ins * Write dialogue * Be more descriptive * Have fun with their writing The 73 minilessons in this book give you all the help you need to set up a writer′s workshop in your classroom. You′ll find workshop evaluation forms to use, topic ideas, and writing-skill improvement lessons. Boone includes suggestions for incorporating writer′s workshops into your yearly curriculum, along with a list of additional resources. Use the step-by-step guidance here to turn your students into enthusiastic writers. The author provides all the tools you need to make teaching--and learning--creative writing a welcome part of the school day for you and your students.