Each of the titles below have been annotated by a Summer Fellow of the Tampa Bay Area Writing Project.  To read an annotation, click on the title below.

Annotation

by

Robin Snyder  

Culham, a leading authority on the 6+1 Trait model has written a clear, concise tool that is researched based and will provide teachers and students with a language they can speak. Throughout the book are samples of students' writings, scoring rubrics and sound advice on how we as teachers can evaluate our methods.  It is packed with focus lesson ideas that will supply students with writing experiences that will enable them to evaluate their own writing.  Add the bonus experiences that will enable them to evaluate their own writing.  Add the bonus of the +1 Trait (presentation) and its importance in this writing model, and you have a well rounded picture of the writing process we should be adding to our writing instruction.

This book is full of practical revision techniques designed to expand possibilities within student writing.  Each chapter is based upon a concept of craft and contains underlying theory and research as well as adaptable mini-lessons.  The author provides examples of published literature that can be used to demonstrate the qualities of craft.  He also implements teacher and student writing samples for additional models of his techniques.  Throughout the author’s own self-reflection and work, he creates a book that provides possibilities for students to continue writing “after The End.”

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 The primary focus of this book is an evaluation of the lack of moral instruction and what teachers, parents and other people who work with children can do to instill character and virtues.  The book is broken down by the seven core virtues that comprise moral instruction: empathy, conscience, self-control, respect, kindness, tolerance, and fairness.  Borba included detailed activities for each virtue to instill these virtues in children.  The book emphasizes that moral intelligence is learned, and without instruction children will not acquire these virtues on their own. 

Martin walks the reader through designing, applying, and integrating scientific methods into the classroom curriculum.  This is a user-friendly book that incorporates academic knowledge with a hands on approach to scientific investigation.   Printed on blue paper before each chapter is an overview, allowing for quick reference to chapter content. Graphic organizers are a tool woven throughout the content.  These visual aids act as a quick tool when referring to printed concepts.

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In this first person account, the author details her research conducted over a two year period in a 3rd and 4th grade classroom, respectively.  She focuses on one student in particular and chronicles her metamorphosis as a young writer.  An eye-opening account of the impact of teacher attitudes about writing instruction and the effect of classroom environment on students' growth as writers.

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Constance Weaver opens her book with a historical review of the teaching of grammar over hundreds of years. She then introduces extensive research and an overview of studies that consistently prove that traditional teaching of grammar in isolations will not transfer to students’ writing. She starts reporting NCTE resolutions that date back to 1936 and progresses to citing Hillocks and Smith’s 1991 review of studies. The book strongly highlights ineffective practices of

traditional teachers, which inhibit students’ exploration with writing. She also talks about the power of the teacher’s red ink pen, and how it might kill the writers inside the students. Weaver suggests multiple ideas for alternative ways to

teach grammar in context. She mentions strategies that make such a mission easy to master and in turn deliver. Some of the alternatives she offers involve

reading with syntactic awareness, minimizing grammatical terminology, sentence combining, using mini lessons, and using examples of good grammatical

structures in students’ own writing. This book emphasizes the importance of guiding the students through the different phases of writing and focusing on incorporating the editing part after the establishment of content and organization.

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 Burkhardt traces his writing curriculum for an eighth grade class focusing on writing assignments designed for different audiences. Burkhardt bases his curriculum on ten assertions he developed to explain his teaching philosophy. Each chapter is a writing lesson, which can stand on its own or be part of the overall curriculum, and begins with a one page overview. The writing assignments serve multiple purposes: to develop a community of writers, to experiment with different genres, to write for a range of audiences. The author participates as a writer in his classroom using his
own writing and student writing for examples. Burkhardt incorporates a variety of publishing methods to anchor his authentic writing approach.

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Annotation

by

Lauren Johnson

The Teaching for Understanding Guide  is a practical tool for making understanding a more achievable goal in classrooms.  What is understanding?  Understanding is being able to take knowledge and use it in new ways.  The Teaching for Understanding Guide provides the framework for teachers to help students develop understanding.  This book is not a script, but rather a resource that provides useful ideas and practical strategies for teachers teaching any grade level or content area who want to make understanding a priority in their teaching.  This book shows how student develop more lasting and useful understanding by delving deeply into a few well-chosen topics, work towards a few important goals and engage in complex performances.    

Georgia Heard dedicates this book “To those voices who have been silent,” and from that page gives the reader a book full of short vignettes designed to open up the voice of every writer.  Each begins with a story from her memory, sometimes a narrative, sometimes a poem.  It is followed by an exercise for the reader that serves as a scaffold for writing. In this book, the author models how, and explains why she uses different techniques like keeping a notebook and speaking memories aloud. It is designed to make one want to write.