Teaching Argument Writing by George Hillocks, Jr.

why: This is a book I need to review for the course I'll be teaching at CU this fall. And it's also a book I've been interested in due to the demands of the Common Core State Standards for teaching argument.

when: start and end 7/19 (we were in the car for about 10 hours that day, ok?)

how: I read this in hard copy and in its entirety in the passenger seat of the car as we drove from Grand Teton National Park to Grand Mesa, Colorado.

thoughts: So George Hillocks has been in the education business for 55 years. I'm not kidding. FIFTY FIVE YEARS. Isn't that awesome? I actually saw him in person at a presentation at the NCTE conference in Chicago in 2011. This book is a great resource on argument and shows how to use crime scene investigation to teach students about argument. Cool stuff. I think, though, that it might be a bit more in-depth work than is necessary for my CU students this fall. I may have them read an excerpt but not the whole book, and I will definitely include it on a list of recommended teaching resources that I am building for them.

Click on the book image to learn more about the book.

review haiku:
an old but smart guy
explains teaching argument
excellent resource

Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst

why: I have been wanting to read this for a while, but it's also a text I need to review for the course I'm teaching at CU this fall.

when: start 7/17, end 7/19

how: I read this in hard copy once again. I did lots of reading sitting outside at Grand Teton National Park with the dogs while my traveling companions were checking out attractions in the park that the dogs could not visit. I finished reading it in the passenger seat of the car en route from Grand Teton to Grand Mesa, Colorado.

thoughts: I'm impressed by the process that became this book. Beers and Probst read dozens of the novels typically assigned in high school and middle school and kept note of when they paused as readers to think about what they were reading. From these notes, they identified six common signposts where engaged readers may stop to think about a text and ask questions of it (for example, when there is a contradiction from something expected or when a character has an aha moment or when something in the text repeats again and again). The idea is that you can use these signposts to teach students to do more than just decode the words--you can use them to teach students to really think about a complex text, which is something that students absolutely must be able to do on their own. I think this will be a very useful text for my CU students, and I'm looking forward to integrating this work into my own classroom. The signposts may replace the tricks of successful readers I've been using for the last few years. The signposts are way more concrete and specific and really show students what to do.

Click on the book image to read more about this book.

review haiku:
notice and note your
questions, connections, and thoughts
unpack complexity

Write Like This: Teaching Real-World Writing Through Modeling and Mentor Texts by Kelly Gallagher

why: This is another text I need to review for possible use with my college students at CU this fall. Also, this book has been on my list for reading for my own professional development as a teacher.

when: start 7/14, end 7/16 (started on leg one of the summer road trip and completed during leg two: Badlands, Mount Rushmore, Grand Teton National Park)

how: I read this as hard copy, in the passenger seat of the car, sticky notes in hand again making notes about how this would fit into my course syllabus.

thoughts: After the Colorado Writing Project work I did this past summer, I've been very anxious to read this because it gives more details about how to use mentor texts and modeling to teach writing authentically in the high school classroom (these are all key tenets of the writing workshop philosophy). I picked up lots of ideas for my own classroom--so I'm hopeful that my CU students will find this useful as they think about their future classrooms as well. This book is full of practical ideas for getting students to do real-world, authentic writing (not the five paragraph essay...but the kinds of writing they actually see in our world). I've been wanting to figure this out--how to get my students writing things that they will see as actually useful to their lives beyond school. School writing really need not be different from real world writing. I want my students to be able to think through complexity and struggle with words to communicate their ideas about their lives. Ideas in this book have helped me to figure that out more.

Click on the book image to get a link to information about this text.

review haiku:
write for real, students
not just for school. Life demands:
think. write. communicate.

Supporting Students in a Time of Core Standards: English Language Arts Grades 9-12 by Sarah Brown Wessling

why: This is a text I need to review for the course I'll be teaching at CU this fall.

when: start and end 7/14

how: I read this in hard copy, sitting in the passenger seat on the first leg of our summer road trip (to Badlands National Park in South Dakota). I read with sticky notes in hand, making notes on each chapter and how it would fit into the syllabus for the course I'll be teaching.

thoughts: This is a helpful text for language arts teachers who may have anxiety about what the Common Core State Standards are asking of us to do differently. Great practical work here. This is one book in the series coordinated by a smart professor in Michigan. Incidentally, one of my former high school students worked with this professor on the middle school book in this series.

Click on the book image to get to information about the text.

review haiku:
common core standards
don't worry. They only ask
more of our best work

The Writing Workshop: Working through the Hard Parts (And They're All Hard Parts) by Katie Wood Ray with Lester L. Laminack

why: I'm reading this in preparation for training to become an instructor in the Colorado Writing Project.

when: start 6/4/13, end 6/5/13

how: as a hard copy book. I read most of it on my couch, and I filled the margins with thoughts scrawled in blue ink.

thoughts: Out of all of the books I've read about teaching writing via workshop, this on is the most concrete I've read. What I mean by that is that it actually shows you what a writer's workshop looks like and all the little pieces/components of it. I think Kitttle's book on teaching writing goes in deep in a few aspects of this kind of teaching--and that is really important reading to do. But this one really shows you what a workshop looks like. It makes me want to pick up Atwell's In the Middle and re-read it since it's been nearly 20 years since I've looked at that, my first introduction to a reading/writing workshop (which I loved after reading that but never thought I could actually pull it off...)

Click on the book image to get to information about this book from the publisher.

review haiku:
Workshop formula?
Ha! There'is no such kind of thing.
Teach them as writers.

About the Authors: Writing Workshop for our Youngest Authors by Katie Wood Ray and Lisa B. Cleaveland

why: I'll be training to become a teacher consultant for the Colorado Writing Project this month. I need to read up on writer's workshop in the elementary grades.

when: start 5/30 end 6/2

how: I have a hard copy of this one. I'm reading it at my dining room table, pen in hand to fill the margins with thoughts.

thoughts: I'm struck by how much of the ideas and approaches here for writers in grades K-2 are totally and completely relevant to writers in grades 9-12 and beyond even. I really loved reading this book. This reminded me of the essence of writer's workshop--it's about engaging students as writers who love to create, to imagine, to make things with words. It's about building a community of practice surrounding this. This book really shows how to do that, and I'm pretty sure I'll keep it within easy reach in my office at school to pull out ideas to use with my high school students.

Click on the book image to get to the page for this book on its publisher's website.

review haiku:
remember this please,
writer's workshop should be fun
inspire your authors

Book Love by Penny Kittle

Why: My own professional development!

When: Start 1/20/13 End 1/27/13

Thoughts: This teacher shows me the path toward achieving with my students what I hope and envision for their reading.

How: I'm reading the hard copy of this one, loaned to me by a colleague. I'm taking notes on my ipad as I read so I don't forget all the things I hope to do in my classroom that I'm learning about in this book!

(click on the book image to get to the author's website)

review hiaku:

books books books books books
read read read read read read read
teach to craft readers