Spring_2012_Content_Area_Writing


 * [[image:http://i43.tower.com/images/mm102076166/content-area-writing-every-teachers-guide-nancy-steineke-paperback-cover-art.jpg]] || ==Content Area Writing==

Spring 2012
|| =Book Summary=

Most teachers struggle with new ways to inspire their students to be better writers. It is important for teachers to use writing in all of the content areas not just English or language arts. The book, __Content-Area Writing__, is geared towards teachers who teach upper elementary grades but a lot of the information can be modified for younger and older students. The first chapter touches on there being a writing crisis in America and that our student today aren’t meeting even the most basic writing standards. That is where this book really comes into play. The text is organized into two separate parts. The first section is called Writing to Learn. Writing to learn is everyday writing in the average persons life. Characteristics of writing to learn can be short, spontaneous, informal, personal and ungraded (pg 22). This can be used in content areas as well such as taking short and brief notes while reading a science chapter. The second part of the book is the Public Writing section. Public writing can be a piece of writing that is structured, planned, audience centered and edited (pg 22). They are typically something that the student can be proud of and has put a lot of work into. Through both sections of the text there are many mini-lessons that teachers can apply to their curriculum. Some of the techniques in the book are ideas can be anything from common ideas such as KWL’s to a new way of looking at clustering. There are pictures and diagrams to go along with the text for many of the mini-lessons, which can be very helpful to a teacher looking to improve their students’ writing skills.

The mini lessons in the test are organized by commonly asked questions such as:
 * __What is it__- a brief overview of exactly what the mini-lesson is about.
 * __When to use it__- this helps the teacher explain to the students when and why to use this type of writing. Teaching writing isn’t a useful tool unless your students can relate it back to their lives.
 * __Play by Play__- In this section; there is a detailed description of the mini-lesson example. It gives ways to teach it and activities to go along with the information presented to the students.

This book goes into detail about what the difference is between the types of writing. This is something that will prepare students for their future writings. It is important that students are able to understand concepts so that they can improve their writings.

Author Biography
A brief biography of the author (not just copied and pasted from the publishers’ website, but written from your perspective) including a picture, list of other books, links to author websites and other

**Harvey "Smokey" Daniels** started his work in 1969 in Chicago as a classroom teacher in city and suburban schools after graduating from Northwestern University. After teaching in schools for many years he now lives in Santa Fe New Mexica with his wife, who is also a classroom teacher, and works at a university teaching college students how to be effective in the classroom. He is now a national consultant and an author of books for teachers looking to improve student literacy. Smokey is well known for his student-led book clubs, which help students to foster their own learning through reading and communication. He has also written __Conversation is Collaboration: Inquiry Circles in Action and Subjects Matter: Every Teacher's Guide to Content Area Reading__. Smokey andSteve Zemelman (the next author) have worked very closely together through their careers. **Steve Zemelman** has spent many years in the education field trying to improve classrooms through out Chicago. He was the founding director of a project called Illinois Writing Project which provideprofessional development for teachers in the subjects of reading and writing as well as how to apply them in the classroom. He now works through the Chicago School Alliance to help teachers and schools with communication and collaboration throughout out a district. He writes about current issues that teachers are facing in schools when it comes to teaching reading and writing. You can visit the website www.illinoiswritingproject.com to learn more about the professional development days and conferences that are put on. He has also written all versions of __Best Practices, Subject Matter: Every Teacher's Guide to Content Area Reading, and A Community of Writers.__ **Nancy Steineke** is a 25-year veteran teacher through a high school classroom. Through this, she has been able to witness first hand how to mold good readers and writers through collaboration and performance based learning. She works through literacy circles and promotes the classroom community to be open. She says, "Literacy circles will only work if students will talk. And students will only talk if they are willing to take a risk." Her book, __Reading and Writing Together__, goes through the ins and outs of good commncation through writing and reading. She believes that there are many practices a teacher can use to make a community where students want to share with each other. She worked hand in hand with Steve and Smokey to produce this book. Subjects Matter is the follow up book to Content-Area Writing. It was co-written by Havey Daniels and Steven Zemelman. This book is more geared towards middle school through high school teachers. The book is about how teachers can help their students remember and comprehend what they read not only as an English teacher but as a teacher in math, science, and social students as well. It goes through 23 different lessons to help teachers connect with their students. It also gives a book list for students of 150 books that typical students are actually interested in. This book is a great resource to teachers who are looking to have their student’s communication and interact with not only each other but also different subject matters.

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