Accessible and reader-friendly, this is the definitive book on teaching writing to children in grades K-8, the only title on the market to thoroughly address both the process and the product of writing.
Covers strategies for teaching prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing through writing workshops, literature focus units, and thematic units; techniques for helping children develop ideas, organize writing, choose vocabulary, apply stylistic devices, and correct mechanical errors; and, five levels of scaffolded composition instruction: modeled, shared, interactive, guided, and independent writing.
Addressing Process and Product
NEW! A Writing Workshop CD now included in every copy of the book gives you specific insight into classroom teaching in a workshop model, illustrating both the writing process and product.
Meeting Individual Student Needs
NEW! How to Address Struggling Writers’ Problems-- this step by step analysis explains what issues cause writers to struggle, provides clear examples of the problem, and clarifies the steps to take to help writers overcome their obstacles.
Planning for Accountability
NEW! Preparing for Writing Tests --this new feature will help you prepare students for high-stakes testing by clearly defining each type of writing, providing prompts to generate a writing sample, and outlining possible pitfalls writers may face when writing in this specific genre.
Gail E. Tompkins is Professor Emerita at California State Unversity, Fresno, and she continues to direct the San Joaquin Valley Writing Project. She regularly works with teachers in their kindergarten through eighth-grade classrooms and leads staff development programs on reading, language arts, and writing. In 1998 Dr. Tompkins was inducted into the California Reading Association's Reading Hall of Fame in recognition of her publication and other accomplishments in the field of reading, and recently she was awarded the prestigious Provost's Award for Excellence in Teaching at California's State University, Fresno.