Customer Reviews

What a Writer Needs

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Words simply cannot describe this book. I read it through in one sitting and was left craving more. Teachers in grades kindergarten through graduate school would benefit from reading Fletcher's book. Simply outstanding!

I love this author and I love this book!!! Ralph Fletcher has a way of nudging us as teachers while completely understanding how difficult it is to teach writing! This is a gentle read that uplifts and inspires while it informs.

Ralph Fletcher's What a Writer Needs surpassed all my expectations. As an assigned text for the Colorado Writing Project summer 2009, What a Writer Needs provided unique and innovative ideas for engaging students in the craft of writing. Whether you are a teacher of writing or a teacher who writes, this is a text that will immerse you in the spirit of writing. Lessons are clear, concise and meaningful. The autobiographical approach used by Fletcher offers "over the shoulder" mentor support.

Ralph Fletcher's "What a Writer Needs" is what I needed. Fletcher's writing is itself delightful. I WANT to sit down with the book and dip into it. His children's examples range from simple to profound, representing the gamut of talent and subject matter. But these are real kids with their invented spelling and honest perceptions of the world. I know kids like these. The book makes me want to write and to teach writing. What more could I ask for?

This is an outstanding book about the philosphy and art of crafting writing and the even trickier art of teaching it to students. If you enjoy this book, check our the shorter"Craft Lessons" as well - it's full of great mini-lessons and tricks.

This easy-to-read wonder was required reading in my graduate class. Everyone in the class loved the book and found it extremely useful.

By now an oldie-but-goodie, WHAT WRITERS NEED comes out of the early 90s when the workshop method was at its heady peak. Yes, it is still the rule in many English classrooms today, but some teachers only engage in a "hybrid" workshop, no thanks to constraints put on their time by high-stakes testing (and so forth).

In any event, Ralph Fletcher covers the bases nicely by providing chapters on specificity, character, voice, beginnings, endings, tension, a sense of place, playing with time, unforgettable language, and a significant subject. Embedded in these chapters you will find specific ideas for mentoring kids as well as numerous examples from student writers, aged kindergarten to eighth grade. What's more, Fletcher offers many of his own pieces as exemplars, from poetry to fictional excerpts. This, then, is a writing teacher who can write (and, in fact, has published in many magazines).

Overall, it may not offer anything new if you're an experienced workshop practitioner, but you'll probably find a new angle on something and it's fun to read in any event. And if you're a novice at workshop curriculum, this will prove an invaluable primer on where you can go and what you can do. Add Fletcher to your bookshelf alongside Donald Murray, Donald Graves, Linda Rief, Nancie Atwell, and Penny Kittle.

A great inspiring resource for those who want to write or teach writing. It's not perfect, but it's very real.