Teaching Writing in Middle School: Tips, Tricks, and Techniques

CONTENTS......Page 8
INTRODUCTION......Page 12
1 DECIDING WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT......Page 16
The Writing Idea Triangle......Page 18
Activity 1: Stop, Look, and Listen......Page 20
Activity 2: This Is Your Life......Page 22
Activity 3: Borrowing Lists......Page 24
Activity 4: The Three-Minute Fastwrite......Page 25
Activity 5: Fiction, Nonfiction, or Poetry?......Page 26
Activity 6: The Genre Game......Page 27
Activity 7: Who, What, Why, When, Where, and How......Page 30
Activity 8: People, Places, and Problems......Page 32
Activity 9: Wacko......Page 33
On Personal, Practice, and Portfolio Assignments......Page 35
On Falling in Love and Burning Out......Page 36
2 PLANNING......Page 38
The Writing Idea Triangle Revisited......Page 40
Activity 1: Prewriting Choices for Nonfiction......Page 42
Activity 2: Prewriting Choices for Fiction......Page 48
Activity 3: The Knowledge Chart......Page 53
Activity 4: Research Strategy......Page 54
Activity 5: Finding Expert Sources......Page 59
Activity 6: Giving Your Characters a Background......Page 63
Activity 7: Making a Pictionary......Page 65
Activity 8: Making a Verbiary......Page 66
Activity 9: Making a Word-Finder......Page 68
Part 3: Finding an Order......Page 72
Activity 10: Branching......Page 73
Activity 11: The Design......Page 74
Activity 12: Outlining Alternatives......Page 76
On Writing Terms......Page 80
On Storing Papers......Page 82
How Long Will It Take?......Page 83
3 GETTING THE WORDS TO FLOW ON PAPER......Page 84
Avoiding Writing Blocks......Page 86
Activity 1: Early Morning Freewrite......Page 89
Activity 2: Creative Concentration......Page 90
Activity 3: Braindancing and Downhilling......Page 92
Activity 4: Finding a Writing Place......Page 95
Activity 5: Zoom Lens......Page 97
Activity 6: Hooks and Leaders......Page 101
Activity 7: Warm-Ups for Cold Days......Page 108
Activity 8: Follow the Leader......Page 112
On Remembering Writing......Page 116
On Time in Class for Writing......Page 117
On Talking About It......Page 118
4 NONFICTION WORKSHOP......Page 120
Introduction......Page 122
Coping with the Fact Problem......Page 123
Activity 1: Topics and Sluglines......Page 126
Activity 2: The Paragraph Puzzle......Page 129
Anecdotes......Page 131
Comparison and Contrast......Page 132
Conclusions......Page 135
Definition......Page 136
Division and Classification......Page 137
Examples......Page 138
Transitions......Page 140
5 FICTION WORKSHOP......Page 144
Introduction......Page 146
Activity 1: Weaving Scenes......Page 147
Teaching the Techniques......Page 151
Action......Page 152
Description......Page 154
Dialogue......Page 155
Flashback......Page 157
Foreshadowing......Page 158
Introspection......Page 161
Narrative......Page 162
Transitions......Page 164
6 EDITING WITH ENTHUSIASM......Page 170
Separating Revision and Polishing......Page 172
Distinguishing Editing from Criticism......Page 173
Establishing an Editing System......Page 174
Part 1: Introducing Editing......Page 175
Activity 1: Editing? What\'s Editing?......Page 176
Activity 2: The Editor? Who\'s That?......Page 178
Activity 3: The Revision Loop......Page 181
Part 2: Polishing to Publish......Page 186
Activity 4: Polishing for Style......Page 188
Activity 5: Polishing for Pride......Page 192
Activity 6: Presentation Checklist......Page 199
Activity 7: The Publishing Game......Page 202
On Grading Papers......Page 206
On Writing and Spelling......Page 208
On Simple Ways to Publish......Page 209
On Writing and Publishing Outside of School......Page 212
BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 214
E......Page 220
N......Page 221
S......Page 222
Z......Page 223
ABOUT THE AUTHORS......Page 224