Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Stenhouse Publishers; 2nd edition November 15, 2007
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1571107061
ISBN-13: 978-1571107060
Product Dimensions:
9.2 x 7.3 x 0.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
Product Description
Since its publication in 1998 Craft Lessons has become a mainstay of writing teachers, both new and experienced. Readers value the pithy, practical lessons each printed on one page and appreciate the instructional language geared to three grade-level groupings: K 2, 3 4, and 5 8.
In the decade since Craft Lessons' publication the world has changed in many ways, yet one thing has remained constant: teachers continue to feel starved for time. With new curriculum mandates, daily specials, pull-outs, and precious time devoted to test preparation, the situation has never been worse, and the need for a succinct resource like Craft Lessons has never been greater.
The features that made Craft Lessons so valuable have been augmented. This edition includes:
* Seventeen brand new craft lessons; many based on veteran teachers' observations about typical student writing.
* Revisions to other craft lessons: model texts that have gone out of print have been replaced with current titles, and the resource materials sections have been expanded.
* New thinking about teaching elements of craft and the reading-writing connection.
*Two new indexes: a handy subject index to make it easier to find specific craft lessons, and an index that shows how these craft lessons can be integrated into Ralph and JoAnn's curriculum resource on the qualities of writing Ideas, Design, Language, and Presentation.
The 95 lessons in this book provide a wealth of information for teaching leads, character, endings, stronger verbs, and much more. This new edition reestablishes Craft Lessons as the crucial desert island book for harried writing teachers everywhere.
Back Cover Copy
Craft is the cauldron in which the writing gets forged. Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi argue that too often we concentrate on the beginning and ending of the writing process - conceiving and correcting - while leaving students on their own to make a thousand critical decisions in their writing about crafting leads, voice, structure, supporting detail, setting, mood, and character.
What elements of craft can we teach student writers, and at what age are they ready to learn them? This book answers both questions. Craft Lessons is the practical text for the over-scheduled writing teacher who wants to give students fresh challenges for their writing but doesn't have time to pore over dozens of trade books to do so.
There are three main sections in the book: one geared for teachers of primary students, one for teachers of grades 3-4, and one for teachers of middle school writers. This developmental structure allows teachers to go directly to those craft lessons most applicable and adaptable to their own students. Each of the 78 lessons is presented on a single page in an easy-to-read format. And every lesson features three teaching guidelines:
- Discussion - A brief look at the reasons for teaching the particular element of craft.
- How to Teach It - Concrete language showing exactly how a teacher might bring this craft element to students in individual writing conferences or a small-group setting.
- Resource Material - A listing of the book or text referred to in the craft lesson plus additional texts you can use and references to a passage, a poem, or a piece of student writing in the Appendixes.
Craft Lessons also explores the context - the crucial classroom conditions - for successfully bringing rich ideas to young writers. It will appeal to both experienced writing teachers seeking new horizons for their writers and teachers who are relatively new to teaching writing.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
