Lynne R. Dorfman

Drawing on their own experience in the classroom, the authors previously published “Mentor Texts,” which set out to help other teachers use children’s literature in the process of working with elementary-school students on creative writing. This follow up is aimed at aiding nonfiction writing using not only nonfiction texts but fictional writing as well. The authors’ explanation for how this process plays out in the classroom is apt description for their book. They write, “as teachers, we make our thinking public — that is, we share our thinking about the writing and what we are noticing that deserves our attention.” And that’s where the value lies in this book: in the many, many examples of what the authors have noticed about writing that can be used for lessons on all sorts of elements of writing, from broader thinking, such as establishing topics and building content, to more specific skills, including working with voice, syntax and grammar conventions. At the end of each of the six chapters, there are “Your Turn” lessons. The final chapter, “A Treasure Chest of Books,” is exactly that: lists of titles organized along the lines of the chapters, with details on what the authors have noticed that deserves attention. While a lot of the student work samples tend toward younger (elementary) students, the book is a valuable reference for the middle-school classroom as well.… (mehr)

This is one of the best resources for teaching writing that I have ever purchased. It's very "user friendly" with the "Your Turn" lessons and it's packed with great strategies and plenty of quality picture book titles to use for classroom "read like a writer" lessons on author's craft. As a literacy facilitator for my school, I have recommended that my principal purchase more copies for our third grade teachers to use this year for process writing minilessons and strategies that link reading to writing. Congratulations to the authors for an outstanding resource! Katie Wood Ray would approve, I'm sure!… (mehr)