The Middle School Writing Toolkit

The Middle School Writing Toolkit addresses the 5 major writing genres that middle-school students are expected to master - reports, persuasive essays, how-to (procedural) essays, narratives, and literary responses - and provides 57 mini-lessons and more than 200 workstation tasks to start English teachers well on their way to creating a successful writing program in the classroom.

Teaching grammar can be overwhelming and is often an overlooked part of effective instruction. The Middle School Grammar Toolkit to the rescue! Now in its second edition, this comprehensive guide makes grammar instruction fun and meaningful. You will learn how to: Teach grammar in a practical and applicable way by presenting each grammar rule as a useful writing tool for students. Use mentor texts—excerpts from great literature—to help students understand grammar in action. Promote metacognition along the way, so that students become responsible for their own learning. Implement innovative instructional strategies and tools aligned with Common Core and other state standards. Throughout the book, you’ll find step-by-step recommendations for teaching grammatical concepts, such as understanding intensive pronouns, choosing language that expresses ideas precisely, forming verbs in different moods, and maintaining consistency in style and tone, and much, much more. Organized to help students meet the Common Core State Standards and other state language standards for Grades 6–8, the book includes tips addressing teaching for each of these grades, classroom snapshots that show you the tools in action, and specific instructional recommendations to engage students. New! The second edition features revised classroom snapshots and exemplars to showcase successful practices, and new flowcharts to visually represent instructional recommendations. The expanded, free annotated bibliography is updated to include contemporary, high-quality young adult literature and gives examples of key grammatical concepts found in each work. These resources are available as Supplemental Downloads on our website.

In order for students to write effective arguments, they need to read good arguments. In this practical book, you’ll find out how to use mentor texts to make writing instruction more meaningful, authentic, and successful. Author Sean Ruday demonstrates how you can teach middle school students to analyze the qualities of effective arguments and then help them think of those qualities as tools to improve their own writing. You’ll learn how to: Introduce high-interest topics to students to get them interested and engaged in argument writing. Teach students to look at multiple sides of an issue and critically evaluate evidence to construct informed, defensible arguments. Make argument writing an interactive, student-driven exercise in which students pursue their own writing projects. Use mentor texts to help students learn the core concepts of argument writing and apply those skills across the curriculum. The book is filled with examples and templates you can bring back to the classroom immediately, as well as an annotated bibliography which links the concepts in this book to the corresponding Common Core State Standards. Blank templates are also available as printable eResources on our website (http://www.routledge.com/9781138924390).

The Multimedia Writing Toolkit demonstrates how, by drawing on students’ interest in and familiarity with technology, you can integrate multimedia to maximize the potential of writing instruction. In eight concise chapters, author Sean Ruday identifies and describes simple, common forms of multimedia that upper-elementary and middle school students can use to improve their argument, informational, and narrative writing and critical thinking. You’ll learn how to: Incorporate multimedia into argument, informational, and narrative writing through students’ use of video topic trailers, online discussion boards, webpages, and more. Evaluate students on effective use of multimedia through easy-to-follow rubrics and explicitly articulated learning goals. Understand more fully the key forms of multimedia through user-friendly overviews and explanations; you don’t need to be a "techie" teacher to use these strategies! Overcome possible obstacles to the integration of multimedia in the classroom by learning from the author’s concrete, first-hand examples and instructional recommendations. This book is complete with resources designed to provide you with extra support, including reproducible classroom-appropriate charts and forms, links to key web-based content discussed in the book, and a guide for teachers and administrators interested in using the book for group-based professional development. With The Multimedia Writing Toolkit, you’ll have a clear game plan for encouraging your students to become more engaged, technologically savvy learners. Bonus: Blank templates of the handouts are available as printable eResources on our website (www.routledge.com/9781138200111).

In order for students to write effective narratives, they need to read good narratives. In this practical book, you’ll find out how to use mentor texts to make narrative writing instruction more meaningful, authentic, and successful. Author Sean Ruday demonstrates how you can teach elementary and middle school students to analyze the qualities of effective narratives and then help them think of those qualities as tools to improve their own writing. You’ll learn how to: Introduce your students to the key features of a successful narrative, such as engaging the reader, organizing an event sequence, and crafting a strong conclusion. Assess students’ writing by evaluating the specific attributes of an effective narrative. Make narrative writing an interactive, student-driven exercise in which students pursue their own writing projects. Use mentor texts to help students learn the core concepts of narrative writing and apply those skills across the curriculum. Encourage students to incorporate technology and multimedia as they craft their narratives. The book is filled with examples and templates you can bring back to the classroom immediately, as well as an annotated bibliography with mentor text suggestions and links to the Common Core. You’ll also find a study guide that will help you use this book for professional development with colleagues. Bonus: Blank templates of the handouts are available as printable eResources on our website (http://www.routledge.com/9781138924390).

The Multimedia Writing Toolkit demonstrates how, by drawing on students interest in and familiarity with technology, you can integrate multimedia to maximize the potential of writing instruction. In eight concise chapters, author Sean Ruday identifies and describes simple, common forms of multimedia that upper-elementary and middle school students can use to improve their argument, informational, and narrative writing and critical thinking. You ll learn how to: Incorporate multimedia into argument, informational, and narrative writing through students use of video topic trailers, online discussion boards, webpages, and more Evaluate students on effective use of multimedia through easy-to-follow rubrics and explicitly articulated learning goals Understand more fully the key forms of multimedia through user-friendly overviews and explanations; you don t need to be a "techie" teacher to use these strategies! Overcome possible obstacles to the integration of multimedia in the classroom by learning from the author s concrete, first-hand examples and instructional recommendations This book is complete with resources designed to provide you with extra support, including reproducible classroom-appropriate charts and forms, links to key web-based content discussed in the book, and a guide for teachers and administrators interested in using the book for group-based professional development. With" The Multimedia Writing Toolkit, "you ll have" "a clear game plan for encouraging your students to become more engaged, technologically-savvy learners. Bonus: Blank templates of the handouts are available as printable eResources on our website (http: //www.routledge.com/9781138200111)."

It is the goal of the Secondary School Writing Centers Association to help inspire and support new and continuing SSWC directors in establishing and sustaining successful writing centers. There are over 100 resources in this text to help you create a space focused on cultivating a peer-centered model of tutoring. The topics in this publication include proposing a new center, recruiting and training students to be peer tutors, promoting the center, and collecting data about the center. This edition also features sections on school-wide writing initiatives, middle school centers, university partnerships, and all-subject centers. Maybe you are already the director of a SSWC and you're looking for fresh perspectives, or maybe you are cracking open this toolkit as a first step to laying the groundwork of the SSWC you're just starting to develop. Either way, the advice, strategies, models, and templates in this resource toolkit will inspire your next steps.

The Common Core’s language standards can seem overwhelming—students need to learn specific, complex grammar rules at each grade level. The Common Core Grammar Toolkit to the rescue! This comprehensive guide makes grammar instruction fun and meaningful. You will learn how to... • Teach the Common Core’s language standards for grades 6–8 by presenting each grammar rule as a useful writing tool. • Use mentor texts—excerpts from great literature—to help students understand grammar in action. • Promote metacognition along the way, so that students become responsible for their own learning. The book thoroughly covers how to teach the Common Core’s language standards for grades 6-8, on topics such as understanding intensive pronouns, using commas to set off nonrestrictive clauses, maintaining consistency in style and tone, forming verbs in different moods, and much, much more. You’ll learn how to present each of these grammar rules to your students as tools that will help them improve their writing. You’ll also find classroom snapshots that show the tools in action, and handy, reproducible charts that you can use with your own students. Bonus! The book includes a free annotated bibliography, which is offered as a Supplemental Download on our website. The bibliography lists high-quality young adult literature and gives examples of key grammatical concepts found in each work, so you can use additional mentor texts with your students.