Hacking the Writing Workshop: Redesign with Making in Mind

Writing Workshop Is More Than Just Writing

Agility matters. This is what Angela Stockman learned when she left the classroom over a decade ago to begin supporting young writers and their teachers in schools. What she learned transformed her practice and led to the publication of her primer on this topic: Make Writing: 5 Teaching Strategies that Turn Writer’s Workshop Into a Maker Space. Now, Angela is back with more stories from the road and plenty of new thinking to share.

Print Creates Barriers for Talented Writers

As K-12 programs push for proficiency, the world continues to demand something different. Something more. "Writing is bigger than print today," Angela says. "When we diminish it, we diminish writers, too."

Redesign with Making in Mind

In Make Writing, Angela Stockman upended the traditional writing workshop by combining it with the popular ideas that drive the maker space.

Now, she is expanding her concepts and strategies and breaking new ground in Hacking the Writing Workshop. In this easy-to-read-and-implement guide for all teachers of reading, writing, and making, Angela provides:

• Curriculum frameworks that bring students to the drawing board
• Firestarters that ignite even the most print-resistant kids
• Agility building strategies that integrate making and writing and invite loose parts play
• Assessment protocols and tools
• Supplemental resources for each Hack, accessed through QR codes

Ready to redesign your writer's workshop? 

Grab Hacking the Writing Workshop now and show your students that writing is bigger than print.

“The maker movement has enabled opportunities for students to create, imagine, and build . . . what better springboard for that than writing? In Hacking the Writing Workshop, Angela Stockman does a masterful job of providing a framework for how educators can teach students to interpret the world beyond just traditional text and how we can inspire students to integrate curiosity, wonder, playfulness, and innovation into their writing. You will find this book to be one of the best resources to lead your writing workshop into the future.”

Laura Fleming, Best-selling Author of Worlds of Making: Best Practices for Establishing a Makerspace for Your School  and The Kickstart Guide to Making Great Makerspaces

“Good writing is good thinking. This is a book about how to think better, for yourself and with others.”

 Dave Gray, Founder of XPLANE, and Author of The Connected Company, Gamestorming, and Liminal Thinking

“This book offers the right blend of theory and practice, honouring an image of the teacher as capable and competent.”

 Diane Kashin, Ed.D, RECE Ryerson University Instructor, Chair of the York Region Nature Collaborative, and Reggio Emilia and Forest School Enthusiast

In Hacking the Writing Workshop, you’ll find Angela at her best as a unique source of inspiration and empathy for young writers and a wellspring of encouragement for teachers who seek creative expression in their work, grounded in passion, amplified by ingenuity, and energized by ideas that make a difference.”

 Steve Peha, Founder of Teaching that Makes Sense and Author of the Award-Winning Book for Teens, Be a Better Writer