Developing Strategic Writers Through Genre Instruction

This highly practical guide offers a systematic approach to instruction in the three main writing genres--narrative, persuasive, and informative--that students in grades 3–5 are expected to master. Ready-to-use lesson plans and materials are grounded in research on strategy instruction and self-regulated learning, and connect with learning standards. Presented are ways to teach students strategies for planning, drafting, evaluating, revising, editing, and publishing writing in each genre, while making connections between reading and writing. Sixty-four reproducible planning forms and student handouts are provided; the large-size format facilitates photocopying. The Appendix contains a Study Guide to support professional learning. Purchasers also get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials. See also the authors' Developing Strategic Young Writers through Genre Instruction: Resources for Grades K–2.

"Chapter 1 contains a definition and explanation of genre-based strategy instruction with self-regulation for kindergarten through grade 2. In Chapter 2, we discuss writing purposes and the writing process, and we provide explanations about how to make connections between reading and writing under the larger umbrella concept of genre. In Chapter 3, we explain the strategy for teaching strategies, which is the instructional blueprint for using this book and for the development of additional genre-based lessons. Chapters 4 to 6 are instructional chapters and include the lessons and resources for responses to reading, opinion writing, procedural writing, and story writing. Chapter 7 includes guidelines for sentence writing and application of oral language in grammar instruction"--

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) identify three essential writing genres: narrative, persuasive, and informative. This highly practical guide offers a systematic approach to instruction in each genre, including ready-to-use lesson plans for grades 3-5. Grounded in research on strategy instruction and self-regulated learning, the book shows how to teach students explicit strategies for planning, drafting, evaluating, revising, editing, and publishing their writing. Sixty-four reproducible planning forms and student handouts are provided in a convenient large-size format; purchasers also get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials. The Appendix contains a Study Guide to support professional learning.

Tested and fine-tuned in K–2 classrooms, this book provides engaging lessons and materials for teaching the three genres of writing--opinion, procedural, and story--that provide a foundation for beginning writers’ persuasive, informative, and narrative writing skills. The authors' approach integrates strategy instruction, self-regulated learning, and dialogic interactions such as role play. Packed with 55 reproducible planning forms and student handouts, the book makes connections between writing and reading in ways that support growth in both areas, address learning standards, and promote writing across the instructional day. Appendices contain numerous resources to support teachers’ and administrators’ professional learning. The large-size format facilitates photocopying; purchasers also get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials. See also the authors' Developing Strategic Writers through Genre Instruction: Resources for Grades 3–5.

Highly practical and accessible, this indispensable book provides clear-cut strategies for improving K-12 writing instruction. The contributors are leading authorities who demonstrate proven ways to teach different aspects of writing, with chapters on planning, revision, sentence construction, handwriting, spelling, and motivation. The use of the Internet in instruction is addressed, and exemplary approaches to teaching English-language learners and students with special needs are discussed. The book also offers best-practice guidelines for designing an effective writing program. Focusing on everyday applications of current scientific research, the book features many illustrative case examples and vignettes.

An essential "how-to" primer, this book examines the process of learning to write and shares evidence-based instructional strategies for the primary grades. With an emphasis on explicit instruction and scaffolding students' learning, the authors explain when and how to teach handwriting, spelling, foundational skills such as sentence formation and editing, and composition in specific genres. They present clear-cut techniques for assessment, differentiation, and supporting struggling writers. The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Writing are used as a framework for setting instructional goals. Reproducible assessment forms, checklists, and rubrics are provided; purchasers get access to a Web page where they can download and print the reproducible materials in a convenient 8 1/2" x 11" size.

For this revised edition, Dean worked with high school teachers to refine, reorganize, and update the material to better support classroom teachers dedicated to teaching not just the process of writing but also the strategies that help students learn to write effectively throughout their lives. Deborah Dean is back with a significantly reenvisioned and revised edition of her popular Strategic Writing. After working with high school teachers who implemented the approach detailed in the first edition, Dean has refined, reorganized, and updated the material to better support classroom teachers dedicated to teaching not just the process of writing but also the strategies of writing that help students develop the ability to write effectively throughout their lives. Most of the changes were prompted by the desire to help teachers better understand an overall strategic approach that can counter the testing climate that pervades many schools. This approach works within a workshop model and uses the writing process as an umbrella framework. In addition to providing engaging and practical classroom activities, this new edition offers (1) explicit strategy talk, with lesson plans that differentiate between strategy, activity, and mini-lesson to further demonstrate how all three function in a strategic approach; (2) a focus on digital tools and genres, which have proliferated in the last ten years; (3) a more accessible organization, with the conceptual material in early, short chapters and the teaching ideas, examples of student work, and lesson plans in appendixes; and (4) grouping by types of strategies for better alignment with process than with rhetoric. As always, Dean considers students' out-of-school as well as in-school writing tasks, preparing them for a world in which writing is a critical skill, whether for school, work, information, or self-expression.

The definitive reference in the field, this volume synthesizes current knowledge on writing development and instruction at all grade levels. Prominent scholars examine numerous facets of writing from sociocultural, cognitive, linguistic, neuroscience, and new literacy/technological perspectives. The volume reviews the evidence base for widely used instructional approaches, including those targeting particular components of writing. Issues in teaching specific populations--including students with disabilities and English learners--are addressed. Innovative research methods and analytic tools are clearly explained, and key directions for future investigation identified. New to This Edition *Chapters on genre instruction, evaluation and revision, argumentative writing, computer-based instruction, and professional development. *Chapters on new literacies, out-of-school writing, translation, and self-regulation. *Many new topics and authors, including more international perspectives. *Multiple chapters connect research findings to the Common Core writing standards. See also the editors' Best Practices in Writing Instruction, Second Edition, an accessible course text and practitioner's guide.