In the Middle: New Understandings About Writing, Reading, and Learning (Paperback)

by Nancie Atwell (Author) "I confess..." (more)
Key Phrases: call home the child, cottage gardens, soda jerk, New York, Always Beginning, The Outsiders (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
“The best way to teach is to learn together with the students. One of the rare breed of teachers who do know this is Nancie Atwell.”–The New York Times

“Reading this book can be revolutionary. . . . Atwell leads us to new understandings of teaching and learning in a workshop classroom.”–Voices from the Middle

Product Description
Nancie Atwell reflects on the ten years of her teaching experience since writing the first edition of the seminal work, In the Middle.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Boynton/Cook; 2nd edition (February 11, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0867093749
• ISBN-13: 978-0867093742
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,764 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent for innovative high school English teachers, July 1, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Hawaii) - See all my reviews

Atwell's new IN THE MIDDLE outclasses the old text by a mile. She really has broken through the questions and concerns raised in the old "cookbook" style IN THE MIDDLE of the eighties to an outstandingly researched and written, comprehensive" how to" for teachers of reading and writing. I am applying her ideas to my high school English classes with astonishing results. This is a book for secondary school English teachers who really want to change what they do and how they do it..

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nancie Atwell Introduces the Reading and Writing Workshop, April 3, 2002

By	Robert W. Dunkin "jordan42300" (South Padre Island, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Atwell introduces her teaching experiences with chapters about how teach writing and reading to the fragile adolescent age groups. In the following chapters she describes, in detail, her procedure of the "writing and reading workshop" for teaching in her classroom. She goes into great detail about how she prepares herself before the students ever come to class, what she does in the first week of school and how she introduces the workshop technique to her students, her use of minilessons, how she responds to students' writing and how she values and evaluates the students' writing. This book is very thorough in its descriptions of how to teach the workshop style of reading and writing. Atwell walks the reader through every step to make this technique successful. She gives many examples of dialogue she, as a teacher, has had with students showing the reader how she handled particular situations that had come up. It leaves no question unanswered. I believe this book is very helpful to teachers who wish to teach this method. Atwell captures her audience by using real stories and references to experts in this field who have studied this technique for years. Although this is a very involved technique and some beginners may feel overwhelmed by the detail, I highly recommend it.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Unselfish Guideline for Reading/Writing Workshops, May 20, 2001

By	Karen A Glennon (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews

For those entering the teaching field for the first time, changing schools or situations, or returning after a lengthly time off this book is a step-by-step guide for setting up reading/writing workshops in your classroom. It can be adapted for any grade level. It includes conversations, worksheets, tips, assessments and practical suggestions how to handle most situations with writing/reading with children struggling to define themselves. Nancie Atwell is an unselfish educator willing to share herself and what she has learned with her students and fellow teachers. An invaluable guide. I wish I could take a class or workshop with Nancie Atwell. She must be someone special.