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lmurphy93's review
5.0
Thanks to this gem, it is June, yet I cannot help but want to jump back into the classroom and see how these strategies transform my teaching. Many teacher references mention do what they say along side “best practices”.. but no one comes out and specifically says what exactly those best practices are. But, this book does. It is both specific and clear. I look forward to seeing how this book impacts my students in years to come.
hsegdash's review
4.0
I am excited to start using this curriculum. The skills and directly taught and systematic.
brownreadsbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Phenomenal! If you teach writing in any way to K-12 students, you need to read this book. Complete gamechanger on the way we teach writing!
maureen_fox's review
4.0
A really eye-opening look at writing instruction - makes me wish we had a content-based curriculum!
_bookmoth's review against another edition
4.0
This book was not for me, an ESL teacher at a secondary school. While reading I rated the book at three stars, but looking at the amount of snippets I took from the book to use in my own writing reader and classes, I must admit its value might be more to four stars.
The main problem with The Writing Revolution is that it is not for the single (foreign) language teacher. Actually, it is meant more (but not only!) for non-language teachers to incorporate writing in their classes.
The book is mainly (and repetitively) about "but, because & so", "subordinate conjunctions", "SPO (Single Paragraph Outline)", "MPO (Multi-paragraph Outline)" and "appositives". Yes, thesis statements and topic sentences are also discussed, but at a basic level.
What I liked about the book was the approach of having two groups of students: elementary (level 1) and secondary (level 2). However, there also lies a problem: it gets too broad and for me many pages were not useless, but not very practical.
If you are an individual (language) teacher I would recommend this book as an additional read. If your school is looking for a new approach for writing which includes non-language subjects, this would be a good start.
The main problem with The Writing Revolution is that it is not for the single (foreign) language teacher. Actually, it is meant more (but not only!) for non-language teachers to incorporate writing in their classes.
The book is mainly (and repetitively) about "but, because & so", "subordinate conjunctions", "SPO (Single Paragraph Outline)", "MPO (Multi-paragraph Outline)" and "appositives". Yes, thesis statements and topic sentences are also discussed, but at a basic level.
What I liked about the book was the approach of having two groups of students: elementary (level 1) and secondary (level 2). However, there also lies a problem: it gets too broad and for me many pages were not useless, but not very practical.
If you are an individual (language) teacher I would recommend this book as an additional read. If your school is looking for a new approach for writing which includes non-language subjects, this would be a good start.
rose_peterson's review
3.0
My first thought when I picked up this book was, "This is the complete opposite of how I was taught to teach writing." My second thought--quieter, reluctant--was, "And the way I was taught isn't working."
TWI demystifies what can often be an amorphous writing process, based on what "feels" right, leaving many students in the dark. It presents ideas of how to teach writing from a skills perspective, from the sentence fragment level up.
I did take away some useful things:
- using dotted lines to indicate planning/notes and solid lines to signal drafting
- how to embed writing instruction into other content areas (and the necessity of it, as it boosts rigor)
- sentence activities
- reminder that outlines reduce cognitive load
- GST introduction-writing strategy
I had frustrations, though, too. After the opening chapter on sentences, much of the information felt like things teachers already know but struggle to teach, and TWR didn't give ideas for how to actually present the content to students--which, for me, is the struggle of teaching. For example, the authors write, "Introduce each of these steps by guiding discussion and then model the strategies and activities--in a way that students can observe--and provide feedback," but don't give creative, engaging suggestions of how to do that.
I was lucky to have read someone else's review prior to beginning the book that advised the activities were not clearly marked, so I made it a point to star all activities in the margins for easy future reference.
In general, I'm skeptical of the single-minded focus on college readiness and formulaic writing instead of authentic, lifelong writing. And, I'm still struggling with the idea that all writing must be planned and calculated from the outset...but the bottom line is that most of my students aren't writing at all, and I need to figure out what to do about that. Maybe TWR has some solutions.
TWI demystifies what can often be an amorphous writing process, based on what "feels" right, leaving many students in the dark. It presents ideas of how to teach writing from a skills perspective, from the sentence fragment level up.
I did take away some useful things:
- using dotted lines to indicate planning/notes and solid lines to signal drafting
- how to embed writing instruction into other content areas (and the necessity of it, as it boosts rigor)
- sentence activities
- reminder that outlines reduce cognitive load
- GST introduction-writing strategy
I had frustrations, though, too. After the opening chapter on sentences, much of the information felt like things teachers already know but struggle to teach, and TWR didn't give ideas for how to actually present the content to students--which, for me, is the struggle of teaching. For example, the authors write, "Introduce each of these steps by guiding discussion and then model the strategies and activities--in a way that students can observe--and provide feedback," but don't give creative, engaging suggestions of how to do that.
I was lucky to have read someone else's review prior to beginning the book that advised the activities were not clearly marked, so I made it a point to star all activities in the margins for easy future reference.
In general, I'm skeptical of the single-minded focus on college readiness and formulaic writing instead of authentic, lifelong writing. And, I'm still struggling with the idea that all writing must be planned and calculated from the outset...but the bottom line is that most of my students aren't writing at all, and I need to figure out what to do about that. Maybe TWR has some solutions.