Teaching the Neglected "R": Rethinking Writing Instruction in Secondary Classrooms

Teaching the Neglected "R": Rethinking Writing Instruction in Secondary Classrooms Excellent book! This book is a collection of chapters from multiple authors who specialize in various fields of expertise. This book edited by Thomas Newkirk and Richard Kent is a great way for teachers in any stage of professional development to gain ideas big and small for their classrooms. The content is focused on Language Arts classroom practices but many of the ideas about writing can be transferred to other content areas. I found ideas in the chapter called "The Many Ways of Multigenre" by Tom Romano to be most interesting because it makes the research paper feel more relevant and connects different genres with a beautiful product. The text is loaded with personal anecdotes by the authors, quotes from students and teachers, and specific examples of how the ideas can be used tangibly in the classroom. Other texts about the teaching of writing do not provide tangible and relevant ideas, but this text does so in a purposeful and powerful way. Technology is also at the core of this text and speaks to the relevance of it to teachers today. Each chapter in this text is like a snapshot of a different facet of writing, so it helps you to form ideas and establish what you would like to research more in depth to help your specific students.

Wow. This book is a real gem. It's a compilation of articles by teachers and professors-kind of a quick look at the best of the best. I grabbed tons of ideas, even little half hour exercises, that I was not previously using, and I got lots of theoretical information as well. These chapters were my favorites: Donald Murray's "Writing before Writing" and Barry Lane's "Twenty-first Century Revision" which had lots of practical ideas. I love Tom Romano's chapter on multi-genre because it takes all the best stuff from his book and recaps it in one chapter. Similarly, Monica Wood's chapter called "Learning from Goldilocks" is a succinct piece on narrative writing-it pares down so much information into a single article, so if you don't want to haul out 10 books on fiction writing, this one chapter gives a great overview and lots of practical application. David Boardman, Lisa Miller, and Sara Kajder get into writing in the digital age (digital storytelling, blogs, podcasting, etc), and while you'd need lots more information to actually use these genres in the classroom, they make impressive arguments for why we should read further and do more. And finally, Richard Kent. Ah, Richard Kent who makes us all feel like we're not doing nearly enough. After reading his chapter, I felt a bit deflated. But I quickly moved on to others who seem a bit more realistic (but, yes, he does have great ideas).This book is great for one stop shopping. You'll get an intro into so many important topics and then you can always read further in other sources. A definite must have book for all writing teachers.

My college professor, Dr. Rich Kent, loaned me his copy for an assignment and I enjoyed it so much I had to buy my own. I love the variety in this book!

This is one great collection of practical advice, useful theory and helpful information on how to teach writing in the digital age. With essays by Tom Newkirk, Rich Kent, Nancie Atwell, Jim Burke, Gretchen Bernabei, to name a few this sourcebook is an indispensable aide to both new and veteran english teachers.