Answers to Your Biggest Questions About Teaching Elementary Writing: Five to Thrive [series]

Melanie Meehan

Mar 2022 · Corwin Press

About this ebook

"True this is a book for teachers, but ultimately it is a book for students. This is a book about using every avenue possible —whole group instruction, small group instruction, partner work, charts, thoughtful language (just to name a few!) to discover all that students know and are able to do and to invite them into co-crafting the instruction that matches their goals and their aspirations. Melanie Meehan has written the book that maps out bit by bit how to become a writing teacher worthy of the children we are privileged to teach."

- Shana Frazin, Co-Author of Unlocking the Power of Classroom Talk

Promote Authentic Writing Through Student-Centered Instruction

Writing instruction continues to shift with the onset of new digital resources, demanding a constant reevaluation of best practices. Student-centered, responsive instruction helps build authentic writing opportunities while allowing room for choice and creativity.

Part of the Five-to-Thrive series, Answers to Your Biggest Questions About Teaching Elementary Writing serves as a go-to desk companion designed to meet you at the moment you need answers about writing instruction. The just-in-time approach makes accessible:

• Practical teaching strategies on essential topics, such as building a classroom community of writers, deciding on instructional approaches, and using assessment to inform instruction
• Online printables for planning and in-class note-taking
• Suggestions for seminal readings and resources to go deeper into each topic area
• Classroom examples, strategies, and tips to put into practice right away

Designed for early career teachers to learn the five most important things to put theory into practice, this guide is also timely for veteran teachers to discover up-to-date practices in the field of writing. By infusing equity and cultural relevance throughout instruction and using assessment data in service of students, educators can value and reinforce the identities of young writers.

About the author

Melanie Meehan has been the Elementary Writing and Social Studies Coordinator in Simsbury, Connecticut, since 2012. Within that position, she writes curriculum, works with teachers, and strives to send students off into the world as confident writers who love to express their ideas. Melanie is a co-author of Two Writing Teachers, a blog dedicated to the teaching of writing, as well as a regular contributor to Choice and Lead Literacy. She wrote Every Child Can Write, which was published by Corwin Press in October 2019, and she co-authored The Responsive Writing Teacher with Kelsey Sorum, which was published in 2021. You can reach Melanie on Twitter, @MelanieMeehan1.