Spring_2012_Middle_School_Writers


 * [[image:9780325026572.jpg width="229" height="290"]] || ==Teaching Middle School Writers What Every English Teacher Needs to Know==

Spring 2012
|| =Book Summary= Middle school students are different when compared to elementary school students as well as high school students. Since most educators know that this group of students is different, they realize that it is important to approach the topics that are covered in middle school from a different angle. This would include the teaching of writing. For the most part these students know how to write complete sentences, how to begin a paper and how to end a paper. Thus you may be asking yourself then why teach writing to middle school students? Teachers still need to teach writing to middle school students because they need still help in refining their craft and skills.

// Teaching Middle School Writers What Every English Teacher Needs to Know // provides teachers of middle school students with excellent resources and ideas as to how to teach writing to these special students. The book is broken up to various parts. Those parts include “Research, Teachers’ Realities, Adolescents’ Writing Needs, My Own Teaching”. This professional text touches on many of the same topics that have been presented both in the textbook and from class discussions. Two of those topics that strongly present themselves are the importance of drafting and the importance of conferencing. Drafting is important because it allows a student to get his or her ideas down on paper before they begin to write. It also allows the student to see the flow of the paper and which areas of the paper may be weaker than others. Creating an outline for a paper is a popular form of drafting.

 When it comes to conferencing, the book focus more on peer-to-peer conferencing rather than student to teacher like how it has been presented in class. The book mentions that peer-to-peer conferencing boosts both students’ self-esteem and allows the students to feel more confident in their writing. Peer acceptance is important in the minds of most middle school students. If a teacher wishes to have peer-to-peer conferencing, he or she needs to create a comfortable learning/working classroom environment. If students to do not feel comfortable in the classroom, then they may not want others to read their writing or accept feedback well.

 Even though this book does have a lot of research presented throughout its pages, it still brings the research down to a level where common folk can understand and use in their classroom. This book has much value and can help any English/Language Arts teacher who has found their spot in the middle.

Author Biography
 Not only is Laura Robb an author of several books on writing, reading, and differentiated instruction, she is first of all an elementary teacher. Laura has been teaching for 43 years now in which she has focused primary in grades 4th through 8th, which explains why she is able to write about middle students so clearly. While in the classroom, Laura noticed the lack of instruction or resources for teachers in how to introduce or include writing in the classroom, thus she thought it was her duty to write books to aid her fellow teachers.

 Laura has written a total of 18 books. Some of those titles are: //Teaching Reading in Middle School// , //Reading Strategy Lessons for Science & Social Studies//, //Differentiating Reading Instruction//,//Assessments for Differentiating Reading instruction////.//

 A new feature that she added to her recent book //Teaching Middle School Writers What Every English Teacher Needs to Know //is a DVD. The DVD includes various clips of Laura working with middle school students and their writing. For example, there is a clip about conferencing with a student and Laura takes the time to walk through the steps for all teachers. This DVD is helpful to all especially those who are visual learners.

When Laura is not teaching or helping her fellow teachers or writing the next best seller, she is speaking at conferences all over the nation even including Canada. Laura has taken her message on the road to try to deliver it to as many people as possible. Laura is sort of a living legend for middle school teachers who have the great task of teaching writing to these young adolescents.

=Helpful Websites = Below are two helpful websites that could come in handy if you were to use this book in your English/Language Art classroom.

[] : Laura Robb’s homepage (Will provide more information about Laura, the books that she has written, as well as other pieces of useful information that can help your classroom be a better space for writing)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">[] : Our book on Amazon.com (If you really like this book and wish to add it to your professional library, here is a link to buy it on Amazon)

Digital Presentation
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Handout
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[|Mini-Lesson Handout]