Crafting Writers, K–6 (Full text online)

Crafting Writers K-6
Elizabeth Hale
Year: 2008
Media: 272 pp/paper
ISBN: 978-157110-739-8
Grade Range: K-6

Here's another online full text preview from Stenhouse Publishing.

The book is available via PDF download, a chapter at a time.

Here is the table of contents:

Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Specific Craft
Chapter 3: Gathering Craft
Chapter 4: Categories of Specific Craft
Chapter 5: Crafting with Punctuation
Chapter 6: Primary Writing
Chapter 7: Teaching Craft Lessons
Chapter 8: Researching Strengths in a Conference
Chapter 9: Researching Next Steps in a Conference
Chapter 10: Teaching the Conference
Chapter 11: Group Conferring and Other Management Techniques
Chapter 12: Assessment
Final Thoughts
Appendix A: Additional Mini-Lessons on Craft
Appendix B: Mini-Lessons for Independence in Memoir Writing
Appendix C: Mini-Lessons for Independence in Nonfiction Writing
Appendix D: Mini-Lessons for Independence in Poetry Writing
Appendix E: Forms for Researching Craft
Appendix F: Guided Practice in Researching Craft
Appendix G: List of Specific Craft Presented in Chapters 4, 5, and 6
References
Index

If you use it, buy it! Reward a writer and teacher's hard work!

Tools for Teaching Academic Vocabulary

Inside Words

Tools for Teaching Academic Vocabulary Grades 4-12

Janet Allen
Year: 2007
Media: 128 pp/paper + CD ROM
ISBN: 978-157110-399-4
Grade Range: 4-12

Full text online!

Contents
Instructional Strategies and the Tools That Support Them
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Concept Circles
Concept Ladder
Concepts and Vocabulary: Categories and Labels
Contextual Redefinition
Dictoglos
Focused Cloze
Frayer Model
Frequent Contact
"I'm Thinking of a Word..."
I Spy: A Word Scavenger Hunt
Lead
List-Group-Label
Possible Questions
Possible Sentences
Previewing Content Vocabulary
Semantic Feature Analysis
Semantic Mapping
Survival of the Fittest
Think-Pair-Share: Collaborate for Understanding
Vocab-O-Gram
Word Sort
Word Walls
Appendix

Writing Craft Lessons: Full Text E-Book

Now available! The revised and expanded edition of the best-selling Craft Lessons by Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi features 17 brand-new writing craft lessons, revisions to other lessons, expanded resources, and more—a total of 95 lessons grouped into sections for K-2, 3-4, and 5-8. Click here to browse the entire book online!

Ruth Culham's Writing Company

Workshop & training schedules with a comprehensive listing of books and other materials make this site worth a visit.

Also listed are recommended books to support the traits.

Full Text Online Books about Writing

When teachers write books about writing they have a lot of time tested wisdom to share. Stenhouse publishers provide a fine selection of professional books you may want to consider. If you find any of the following books useful, buy it! (Or at least ask your school librarian to purchase a copy.)

Talking, Drawing, Writing
Lessons for Our Youngest Writers

Martha Horn and Mary Ellen Giacobbe
Year: 2007
Media: 276pp/paper
ISBN: 978-157110-456-4
Grade Range: K-3

"This is a book about responding to children. A book about listening and noticing children. The first move is not the teacher's. Rather, the starting place is the child's practice through language, drawing, and storytelling. This requires great patience, and I was struck by the time markers that breathed through the text. How long does a teacher wait? It could be ten seconds, twenty, thirty—long enough to tell the child you have all the time in the world to listen. This is a book that teachers have been waiting for but didn't know they needed."
—Donald Graves

Boy Writers
Reclaiming Their Voices

Ralph Fletcher
Year: 2006
Media: 176 pp/paper
ISBN: 978-157110-425-0
Grade Range: K-12

Writing test scores indicate that boys have fallen far behind girls across the grades. In general, boys don't enjoy writing as much as girls. What's wrong? How can we do a better of job of creating “boy-friendly” classrooms so their voices can be heard?

Inside Words
Tools for Teaching Academic Vocabulary, Grades 4-12

Janet Allen
Year: 2007
Media: 128 pp/paper + CD ROM
ISBN: 978-157110-399-4
Grade Range: 4-12

We've learned a lot in recent years about the important role vocabulary plays in making meaning, yet many teachers still struggle with vocabulary instruction that goes beyond weekly word lists. Effective vocabulary instruction is particularly vital in the content areas, where the specialized language used by “insiders” often creates a barrier to understanding for those new to the subjects. In Inside Words, Janet Allen merges recent research and key content-area teaching strategies to show teachers how to help students understand the academic vocabulary found in textbooks, tests, articles, and other informational texts.

Everyday Editing
Inviting Students to Develop Skill and Craft in Writer's Workshop

Jeff Anderson
Year: 2007
Media: 176 pp/paper
ISBN: 978-157110-709-1
Grade Range: 4-8

Editing is often seen as one item on a list of steps in the writing process—usually put somewhere near the end, and often completely crowded out of writer's workshop. Too many times daily editing lessons happen in a vacuum, with no relationship to what students are writing.

PreK - 1st Grade Traits: Using "Wee Can Write" Workshop

Folks, I'm not affiliated in any way with NWREL. I just admire the great materials and training they offer. Wee Can Write is available online from NWREL.

If you're going to be in the North West, don't miss this training:

Carolyn McMahon, co-author of the bestselling book, Wee Can Write: Using
6+1 Trait® Writing Strategies With Renowned Children's Literature, will be
in Portland, Oregon, on April 5–6, 2007, to facilitate this "learn it
today…use it tomorrow" hands-on workshop. Participants will explore a
variety of activities for teaching and assessing the traits of effective
writing using familiar classic literature titles that young students love.

Teachers, instructional assistants, special education staff, and
administrators of "wee" (beginning) writers—preschool, pre-kindergarten,
kindergarten, Head Start, and first grade students—are encouraged to
attend.

Attendance is limited to maximize the focused, interactive nature of this
workshop so register soon. As an added incentive, register by March 15 and
save $20 on the already low registration rate.

Visit http://www.nwrel.org/events/see/85 for complete information or call
(800) 547-6339, ext. 187.

Learn about other NWREL workshops at http://www.nwrel.org/events/ .

See the new http://www.thetraits.org ...your one-stop resource for all
your 6+1 Trait® Writing needs, including information on trainings,
instruction assistance, and products.

6-Traits Books

Crystal Springs Books features dozens of 6-traits books. Most of the work has been authored by 6-Trait authority Ruth Culham. The books are practical and have the feel of teacher made materials.

A nice feature is the look inside the book view which provides 5 or 6 pages from each book. Just cruising through the 'free preview' pages will give you plenty of ideas.

Check it out!

~ Dennis

Full Book: Free Online

Teaching Adolescent Writers
http://www.stenhouse.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=9032&r=sb070117

Right the writing wrongs in your secondary classroom! In his new book Teaching Adolescent Writers Kelly Gallagher shares instructional strategies that focus on six key needs: ample practice, teacher modeling, reading great writers, topic choice, authentic purposes, and meaningful feedback. Click here to browse the entire book online!

Stenhouse Publishers Professional Development Materials feature PDF versions of the book. Sometimes the just the first chapter. Sometimes the entire book. This one is a full book. Worth skimming to say the least!

Boy Writers!

More fine professional development resources from Stenhouse Publishers.

How can we create writing classrooms that are friendlier to boys? In his new book Boy Writers, Ralph Fletcher explores how to give boys more choices and how to engage them in classroom discussions. He tackles difficult issues such as gender differences, violence and humor, edgy language, and handwriting. Click here to browse the entire book!



From their site:

In Boy Writers: Reclaiming Their Voices Ralph Fletcher draws upon his years of experience as staff developer, children's book author, and father of four boys. He also taps the insights from dozens of writing teachers around the US and abroad. Boy Writers asks teachers to imagine the writing classroom from a boy's perspective, and consider specific steps we might take to create stimulating classrooms for boys.

Topic choice emerges as a crucial issue. The subjects many boys like to write about (war, weapons, outlandish fiction, zany or bathroom humor) often do not get a warm reception from teachers. Ralph argues that we must “widen the circle” and give boys more choice if we want to engage them as writers. How? We must begin by recognizing boys and the world in which they live. Boy Writers explores important questions such as:

• What subjects are boy writers passionate about, and what motivates them as writers?
• Why do boys like to incorporate violence into their stories, and how much should be allowed?
• Why do we so often misread and misunderstand the humor boys include in their stories?

Great Books about Writing

I love books. I can't throw one away.

I've got more books than wall space, which means far too many of my friends are still in boxes and stacked in storage. (Just thought of my vintage poetry collection... William Carlos Williams, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Kenneth Patchen, Tobie Lurie, Richard Wright, Allen Ginzberg, Robert Service, I've got to un-earth them!)

My writing bookshelf (and my e-learning texts) are unpacked and at hand. Still there are so many fine volumes I'd love to lay a hand on. Here's my virtual shelf of top picks for writing instruction. If you don't find your favorite writer's book on my list, drop me a comment and and share it with everyone!

The Perfect E-Book

I'm hoping that the perfect e-book reading system will evolve in the next few years. How about a system that compensates for near-sightedness, with adjustable text that hovers in space at just the right distance before my eyes. (No more holding heavy books!) The system would be hyper-texted to connect you to... everything! Some day!

For now, we can page through some of the great books of all time... online. Sketches by Leonardo, Mozart's Musical Diary (with audio clips) and the original Alice in Wonderland are on the top shelf. Here's a link to the British Museum's Turning the Pages: 15 great books you can examine from the comfort of your browser! (You will need the latest free Shockwave player and a high-speed connection to enjoy this site. It's fascinating!)

~ D@SanMarcos

Free Book Preview: K-2 ESL Writers

Here's another free online preview of an interesting writing text:
Stenhouse Publishers - "The Words Came Down!": English Language Learners Read, Write, and Talk Across the Curriculum, K-2

As I've learned when working with K-3 Teachers in my UW-Stout Online class, the traits work for pre-literate kids when we're able to teach the concepts of each trait. This book should yield some good ideas for our Ell, Esl learners. (You can see the whole book in PDF format!)

(del.icio.us tags: writing reading esl)

Free Access to Online Text

Stenhouse Publishers - Teaching Adolescent Writers:

Right the writing wrongs in your secondary classroom! In his new book Teaching Adolescent Writers, Kelly Gallagher shares instructional strategies that focus on key needs: ample practice, teacher modeling, reading great writers, topic choice...

This free online book preview will help you:

motivate young writers;

see the importance modeling plays in building young writers (modeling from both the teacher and from real-world text);

understand how providing choice elevates adolescent writing (and how to allow for choice within a rigorous curriculum);

help students recognize the importance of purpose and audience;

assess essays in ways that drive better writing performance.

I'm a big fan of free previews. Those of you looking for ideas about teaching writing should check this out.

Den