The Resourceful Writing Teacher: A Handbook of Essential Skills and Strategies

This book will be a cherished teaching companion for every teacher lucky enough to hold it.  -Lucy CalkinsThe Resourceful Writing Teacher answers the need for a handbook on not only how to teach writing well but also what skills students need and a repertoire of strategies they can use to acquire them. Drawing on her own practice as well as the work of seminal influences, Jenny Mechem Bender presents a hands-on reference for maximizing every minute of writing instruction you have.You'll refer to The Resourceful Writing Teacher time and again. Its teaching and learning strategies are understandable, accessible, and ready to implement. Bender establishes the specific teaching practices that help writers in grades 3-8 develop, giving you precise suggestions for minilessons, conferences, small-group strategy lessons, and shares. Working through essential teaching points for writing narratives, writing non-narrative pieces, and using conventions, The Resourceful Writing Teacher forms an instructional blueprint that addresses the crucial skills writers need. Bender's ideas help students develop multiple strategies for internalizing skills such as:

• finding topics
• showing not telling
• writing leads and endings
• gathering information
• spelling and punctuating
• editing.  

With detailed instructional practices and a menu of essential skills and strategies to teach, The Resourceful Writing Teacher is the one-stop guide that streamlines instruction and gives students what they need for success in writing.