A review by skrajewski
Why They Can't Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities by John Warner

5.0

I’m in love with this book for such a wide variety of reasons! Author John Warner starts by showing his readers where the real problems in education are, with a focus on education folklore. I have noticed so many of these problems myself, so these chapters reaffirmed some of what I’ve seen throughout my short 17-year career. In the second half of the book, Warner shares ways to get around those problems and still engage and motivate students in the classroom. He shares some of his assignments, which really got me thinking about research and writing in a whole new way. (I may use a few of them too!) I loved his chapter on grading, for I’d love to get rid of grades altogether. At the end, there are close to 20 pages of footnotes with all the research that back up his claims. I know I’ll be referring back to this book for years to come.