There are three truths about teaching writing, one thats widely known, one that isnt, and one that will change your teaching forever:
- the ability to write is essential for students in every subject area
- writing is the most powerful and efficient tool that teachers have for helping students connect with content and deepen their understanding of it
- every teacher, including you, is ready to coach middle and secondary writers successfully right now.
No matter what subject you teach,
Content-Area Writing is for you, especially if youre juggling broad curriculum mandates, thick textbooks, and severe time constraints. It not only shows that incorporating carefully structured writing activities into your lessons actually increases understanding and achievement, but also proves how writing can save, not consume, valuable instructional time. Following up on
Subjects Matterthe book that changed how tens of thousands of language arts, math, science, and social studies teachers use reading in their classroomsHarvey Daniels, Steven Zemelman, and Nancy Steineke now present the most thorough and practical exploration available of writing in the subject areas.
Content-Area Writing guides you strategically through the two major types of writing that every student must know:
- Writing to Learn the quick, exploratory, and extemporaneous in-class writing that helps kids engage deeply with content, build connections, and retain what theyve learned
- Public Writing planned, constructed, and polished writing in which students demonstrate knowledge and reflect on what theyve learned.
With their contagious combination of humor, irreverence, and classroom smarts, Daniels, Zemelman, and Steineke give you dozens of valuable lessons for encouraging growth in both types of writing with subject-specific ideas for planning, organizing, and teaching, as well as samples of student work and guidelines for evaluation and assessment. They also include detailed information on how their strategies fit into the writing process, how they can be used in writing workshops across the curriculum, and how they prepare students for testing and other on-demand writing situations. With writing, you can help students learn better, retain more, meet content- and skills-based standards, and tackle any test with confidence. No matter what you teach, read
Content-Area Writing and discover for yourself that classroom time spent writing is classroom time well spent.
Steven Zemelman's newest Heinemann title is From Inquiry to Action, which combines two of his education passions: Choice-based inquiry approaches and civic action. He blogs frequently about the ideas behind the book and about how educators around the US are applying them at his blog Civic Action in Schools.
Steve has worked in many capacities to promote the sustainability of innovative schools in Chicago. For eight years he directed the Center for City Schools at National-Louis University, and he is a founding director of the Illinois Writing Project. He has spearheaded the start of a number of innovative small high schools in the city. His experiences and research in these areas led to his Heinemann book 13 Steps to Teacher Empowerment, coauthored with Harry Ross.
Steve has been a frequent collaborator with Harvey "Smokey" Daniels. They have coauthored seven books and videos with Heinemann, including Subjects Matter, Second Edition; Best Practice, Fourth Edition, and The Best Practice Video Companion; Content-Area Writing; Rethinking High School and its companion video; and A Community of Writers. These books are filled with practical strategies for making writing, reading, the content areas, and indeed the life of a school itself into a deeper and richer learning experience for kids. Zemelmen and Daniels are known for immediately useful teaching strategies that range from brief, easy-to-use reflections that help students learn right in class to bigger public-writing projects that can make school truly memorable for kids and teachers alike.
Steve consults with schools and districts around the country and may be contacted directly at stv.zemelman@comcast.net or @StevenZemelman.
Harvey "Smokey" Daniels has been a city and suburban classroom teacher and a college professor, and now works as a national consultant and author on literacy education. In language arts, Smokey is known for his pioneering work on student book clubs, as recounted in Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups, and Minilessons for Literature Circles. His latest bestselling books on content-area literacy are The Curious Classroom; Comprehension & Collaboration, Second Edition; Upstanders; Subjects Matter, Second Edition; the Texts and Lessons series; and Content-Area Writing. He is also coauthor of Best Practice, Fourth Edition, and The Best Practice Video Companion as well as editor of Comprehension Going Forward.
Smokey works with elementary and secondary teachers throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, offering demonstration lessons, workshops, and consulting, with a special focus on creating, sustaining, and renewing student-centered inquiries and discussions of all kinds. Smokey shows colleagues how to simultaneously build students' reading strategies, balance their reading diets, and strengthen the social skills they need to become genuine lifelong readers.
Connect with Smokey @smokeylit.
READING
Comprehension Going Forward
Mini-lessons for Literature Circles
Subjects Matter, Second Edition
Texts and Lessons for Content-Area Reading
Texts and Lessons for Teaching Literature
WRITING
Community of Writers
Content-Area Writing
LITERACY
The Curious Classroom
Comprehension & Collaboration, Second Edition
Inquiry Circles for Elementary Classrooms
Inquiry Circles for Secondary Classrooms
SCHOOL CULTURE
Best Practice, Fourth Edition
Best Practice Video Companion
Rethinking High School
Rethinking High School Video
Upstanders
Nancy Steineke consults nationally as a keynote speaker, workshop presenter, and literacy coach for K-12 teachers. She specializes in content-area literacy, nonfiction writing, purposeful close reading, literature circles, and student engagement. Nancy keeps the focus on manageable teaching strategies that best benefit students.
A published author and accomplished teacher, Nancy has been featured in classroom videos for Best Practice and Comprehension and Collaboration. Her groundbreaking work with book clubs and student led discussion groups is captured in her books Assessment Live! and Reading and Writing Together. A frequent collaborator with Harvey "Smokey" Daniels, they have co-authored Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles; Texts and Lessons for Content Area Reading; and Texts and Lessons for Literature.
Nancy presents annually at the National Council of Teachers of English, International Reading Association, and various state conferences. She is also an Illinois Writing Project leader. Along with Harvey Daniels, Nancy has organized and led over 50 multi-day residential institutes for teachers in locations around the United States.
