Notes how the author helps his eighth graders become more effective writers by acknowledging the role emotions play in their learning and in their ability to make meaning. Describes how he shares his emotions with students to help them open up themselves. (SG)

Describes some of what educators have learned about the complex task they ask students to tackle when they put them in peer groups to talk with each other about their writing. Analyses the work of one peer revision group and illustrates the complicated work that students can engage in as they struggle to justify their writerly decisions to their…

Describes some of the writing stimuli used to help middle school teacher candidates with their own un-learning as they gain more confidence and insight about authentic writing. Encourages teachers to trust the process and muster the courage they will eventually need to model literacy in their own classrooms. (SG)

Discusses the author's goal of helping students see how mistakes in their writing distract readers and how errors have influenced the grade. Recommends the careful use of the "red pen" noting that it is easy to forget its power. Suggests that teachers use this power to help students grow as writers. (SG)

Discusses how computer technology has brought with it a rethinking about how writing happens. Notes that research indicates that computers have a positive impact on student writing. Lists 15 web sites that may help teachers and students with the task of writing. (SG)

Considers how read-alouds motivate students who might be less than motivated readers and can also introduce avid readers to a world of books they might not otherwise find on their own. Suggests and describes 11 books to read aloud to the entire class. Lists 4 books suggested for individual readers. (SG)

Annotates 12 books for young adults including new releases, old standards, classics, and award winners--books that will appeal to readers and writers. (SG)

Argues that writers view grammar as a method of image construction. Describes image painting techniques from four grammatical perspectives: images of style, form, content, and convention. Describes how to teach these to eighth graders, offering numerous examples of class writing activities that use images as a doorway into the writer's art and…

Argues that, taught in the context of writing, grammar can enhance and improve students' writing. Offers classroom examples showing how: good preparation for writing fosters good grammar and detail; students can use grammatical and syntactic constructions used by professional authors as models for their own writing; and how to help students learn…

Describes how the author, in his seventh-grade English class, taught "little grammar" (sentence structure, parts of speech, and usage) and "big grammar" (such as essay structure, points of an argument, and rhetorical devices) through reading meaningful texts drawn from their history class. Discusses successes and difficulties with this approach,…

Describes a two-year grammar sequence that the author uses with the seventh- and eighth-grade reading and writing program, in an approach that combines grammar instruction with what students are reading and writing. Describes how systematic grammar and usage instruction is connected to what students are reading and writing. (SR)

Summarizes five important studies that teachers should be aware of, which offer direction about how grammar should or should not be taught. Summarizes useful theory as well, concluding that the teaching of grammar in the language arts classroom must happen within the context of larger lessons and experiences with written and spoken language. (SR)

Discusses "textual intelligence": knowledge of how texts of all kinds work. Describes how the author uses grammar in his classroom to help students understand how to read and write better and how to think with greater clarity. Describes activities used before and after students read or write. Argues that grammar is a process that helps students…

Notes and discusses resources on the World Wide Web that deal with grammar and that may be useful to teachers. Lists traditional grammar websites, including online handbooks and style guides, but warns that the isolated teaching of grammar has little impact on student writing. Concludes that websites are needed that actually show teachers how to…

Discusses four books that will be useful to teachers who are rethinking how and why they teach grammar, and who want to connect and imbed the study of grammar in students' thinking and writing. (SR)