About the Authors: Writing Workshop with Our Youngest Writers [Paperback]

Katie Wood Ray (Author), Lisa Cleaveland (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0325005117 | ISBN-13: 978-0325005119 | Publication Date: January 14, 2004

About the Authors is about the littlest authors - those in kindergarten through second grade. Based on a profound understanding of the ways in which young children learn, it shows teachers how to launch a writing workshop by inviting children to do what they do naturally - make stuff. So why not write books?

Gifted educator and author of the best-selling What You Know by Heart (Heinemann, 2002), Katie Wood Ray has seen young authors do just that. And she wants your students to be able to do the same. Beautifully describing young children in the act of learning, she demonstrates what it takes to nourish writing right from the start:

• a supportive environment that enables even the youngest students to write
• respect and sensitivity to the way children really learn
• inviting instruction that both encourages and elevates young writers
• rich language that stimulates writing
• classroom talk and children's literature that energize young writers
• developmental considerations that shape the structure of the workshop, making it natural, joyful, and absolutely appropriate.

What's more, Ray explains step by step how to set up and maintain a primary writing workshop, detailing eleven units of study that cover idea generation, text structures, different genres, and illustrations that work with text. She also draws on data, projects, and the language of teaching used in the classroom of first-grade teacher Lisa Cleaveland. Ray allows readers to "listen in" to Lisa as she helps her young students learn from professional writers, work with intention, and think about their own process.

Chockfull of examples of little books by young children, About the Authors is proof positive that a primary writing workshop is a smart writing move.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Between her passion for elementary writing instruction and a love of children's literature, Katie Wood Ray found herself asking, "What if children were introduced to key qualities of good writing in the context of illustrations?" This question led to the research behind In Pictures and In Words. The answer was simple yet powerful: "The thinking students do while reading picture books can help them see the connection between what words and illustrations do to make meaning." As an author of bestselling Heinemann books such as Already Ready, Study Driven, About the Authors, and What You Know By Heart and as a member of Heinemann Professional Development Services, Katie has always given teachers resources and PD that transform writing instruction and help children discover a lifelong love of writing. A former Associate Professor at Western Carolina University Katie is now a full time writer and researcher of the teaching of writing. With a particular focus on the study of writing craft, she leads teacher workshops and summer institutes across the nation related to the teaching of writing. Her professional background includes both elementary and middle school teaching experience and two years as a staff developer at The Reading and Writing Project, Teachers College, Columbia University. She was also the coeditor of the journal Primary Voices K-6, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English. Katie is also the author or coauthor of Spelling in Use: Looking Closely at Spelling in the Whole Language Classrooms (1996, NCTE), Wondrous Words: Writers and Writing in the Elementary Classroom (1999, NCTE), and The Writing Workshop: Working Through the Hard Parts (And Theyre All Hard Parts) (2001, NCTE). A frequent speaker at conferences and summer institutes around the country, Katie also has extensive experience teaching teachers in workshop and demonstration settings. Katie Wood Ray is a Heinemann Professional Development presenter. EC0410

The 2002 recipient of the prestigious NCTE/Donald H. Graves Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Writing, Lisa B. Cleaveland is a first-grade teacher at Jonathan Valley Elementary School in Waynesville, North Carolina, where she conducts a writing workshop every morning at 9:00 am sharp.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Heinemann (January 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0325005117
• ISBN-13: 978-0325005119
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,097 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Katie Wood Ray is the author of the Heinemann titles Already Ready (2008), Study Driven (2007), About the Authors (2004) and its DVD companion The Teaching Behind ABOUT THE AUTHORS (2005), and What You Know by Heart (2002). A former Associate Professor at Western Carolina University Katie is now a full time writer and researcher of the teaching of writing. With a particular focus on the study of writing craft, she leads teacher workshops and summer institutes across the nation related to the teaching of writing. Her professional background includes both elementary and middle school teaching experience and two years as a staff developer at The Reading and Writing Project, Teachers College, Columbia University. She was also the coeditor of the journal Primary Voices K - 6, a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English. Katie is also the author or coauthor of Spelling in Use: Looking Closely at Spelling in the Whole Language Classrooms (1996, NCTE), Wondrous Words: Writers and Writing in the Elementary Classroom (1999, NCTE), and The Writing Workshop: Working Through the Hard Parts (And They're All Hard Parts) (2001, NCTE). A frequent speaker at conferences and summer institutes around the country, Katie also has extensive experience teaching teachers in workshop and demonstration settings.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, September 25, 2007

By 

teacher526 "teacher526" (Storrs, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: About the Authors: Writing Workshop with Our Youngest Writers (Paperback)

If you are at all doubtful or confused how to conduct writers workshop with
younger (K and 1) students this book is for you. It outlines how to get started and sustain successful writing throughout the year. Book layout is easy to read (plenty of space in the margins for notes) and there are pictures along the way to clarify and inspire new great ideas in any classroom. A must read if you are in K or 1 for the first time or want to implement a writers workshop.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Making Stuff in Writing Workshops, September 28, 2008

By 

T. Wert (PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: About the Authors: Writing Workshop with Our Youngest Writers (Paperback)

As indicated by the title, this book is about using writing workshops with students in kindergarten through second grade. Although writing is the point of these workshops, the students are not asked to just write anything. The workshops provide a specific goal for students: to make stuff, more specifically to make and write books. The authors thoroughly describe the hour long writing workshops, functions, and teaching opportunities that are typical of an average workshop. Rich examples of the authors' experiences, along with samples of students' work are used throughout each chapter to further develop the objectives of the writing workshops and provide inspirational ideas to readers. The chapters themselves are organized into three sections, adding structure for the many components of the workshop.
The first section, titled Building a Strong Foundation, describes why writing workshops are beneficial to the improvement of students' writing; their complex operations; and the importance of avoiding the isolation of writing to the workshops through daily integration. The explanations for utilizing such a writing program make perfect sense to anyone who has ever worked with young children. Making stuff is developmentally appropriate and helps students take ownership and invest themselves in their work. To take it further, making books helps students read and even live like writers. Then, when students are saturated with writing and learning about language all day long, during the elaborate functions of the writing workshop and through the integration of writing, they don't even notice because they have a purpose and are having fun. According to Katie and Lisa, all of this shows in their wonderful approximations that they call books.
Understanding the Teaching, the second section, emphasizes how teachers can instill purpose in their students as writers through mini lessons, using a predictable curriculum and methodology, so that students will carry their new understanding of how writing can work into their own creations. What is taught, such as techniques, strategies, understandings, conventions, and questioning, as well as the methods used to teach it, like studying published work and what authors say about writing or looking more closely at students' writing, are addressed and enhanced through the use of purposeful scenarios. Additionally, an entire chapter is dedicated to assessing students on their writing processes, pieces of written work, understanding of writing, and writing growth. The final part of this section, centers on the teacher's role in fostering each individual student's needs during writing conferences and share times, leaving the reader ready to implement writing workshops in their own classrooms.
Finally, with a strong foundation and awareness of the concepts that are important to the writing workshop, teachers will find the last section, An Overview of Units of Study, exceptionally useful. Any teacher interested in employing writing workshops in their classrooms will find the descriptions about the various units and lists of suggested children's authors and book names decidedly convenient. These key points render a good starting place, places to go when struggles arise, and options for instructional extensions that can be tailored to the needs of unique classrooms and students.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beginning Writing Workshop, September 13, 2005

By 

Mary B. Fosse "mb" (Cincinnati, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: About the Authors: Writing Workshop with Our Youngest Writers (Paperback)

This is a great book to help k-2 teachers implement writing workshop in the classroom. It offers ideas on how to begin, units of study, and books to incorporate into your mini-lessons. I recommend this book to anyone venturing into the writing workshop approach to teaching writing to young children.