Ages 8-12
Writing Through the Tween Years: Supporting Writers, Aged 8 to 12
Bruce Morgan with Deb Odom
Foreword by Ellin Oliver Keene
No longer little children, but not yet teenagers, ‘tweens’ are beginning to see themselves as autonomous while still struggling to understand where they fit in. It can also be an awkward time for teachers who enjoy the hilarious and poignant personalities of these writers, but feel pressured by a new emphasis on standardised tests. Many teachers have virtually abandoned creative lessons in favour of formulaic writing, even though these lessons may be essential for understanding the emerging competencies and personalities of eight- to twelve-year-olds.
The authors teach together at a school where formulaic writing and test preparation led to stagnant writing scores, student boredom and teacher discouragement. They worked with colleagues to make dramatic changes in their collective writing instruction, which included a return to their roots as writing teachers, but with new twists. The revised writing classes involved integration of insights from reading strategy instruction with a renewed emphasis on the basics of writing: pupil choice, teacher modelling, revision, and using quality children's literature as mentor text.
Writing Through the Tween Years documents how teachers can get back to the joys of teaching writing in a literature-rich, thoughtful environment. There may be no better way to understand and reach tween writers.
Contents
Introduction; Part I: Writing Essentials; Understanding Tween Writers; Writers' Workshop; Planning and Strategy Instruction; Part II: Mentoring Tween Writers; Living Books; Modelling Writing; Mentor Texts; Part III: Sanity in a Test-Crazed World; Jump-Starting Quality Standards; Writing Beyond Narrative: Genre Studies; Tackling Spelling and Punctuation; Epilogue; Appendix; References
2004 160pp paperback
978-1-57110-406-9
£19.99
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