Regie Routman

Routman is enthralling. I feel so inspired and excited to teach reading! My only complaints (and they are all minor) is that it is a little repetitive and cheesy, and I sometimes got confused by the terms she uses for different ways of reading. However, she does explain everything really well and she provides examples. Also, there's a glossary at the back to help you out.
FYI: this is mostly for elementary teachers, but there are some useful ideas for high school teachers as well. Maybe show more secondary teachers should borrow this book instead of buying it. show less

What does great writing instruction look like and sound like?
How do successful teachers of writing get great writers who enjoy writing?
Where do they find the time for instruction, assessment, and test prep?

In Writing Essentials Regie Routman demystifies the process of teaching writing well and gives you the knowledge, research, precise instructional language, and confidence you need to succeed. With Regie's help, you'll transform your classroom into an organized, joyful writing environment show more where students connect reading with writing every day across the curriculum, learn essential skills like grammar and spelling, and achieve higher scores on high-stakes tests through sensible, writing-based test preparation and daily classroom-based assessment.

Writing Essentials specifically and explicitly demonstrates practical, easy-to-do strategies that turn your writing instruction practices into best practices. Follow Routman's path for successfully leading all students-including English language learners, writers who struggle, and students coping with learning disabilities-from first draft to publication. You'll find expert advice and specific demonstrations on a wide variety of techniques, including:

demonstrating your own writing process for students
organizing and managing the writing classroom
conducting effective, efficient writing conferences
creating meaningful rubrics for better assessment
teaching various forms of narrative and informational writing-and poetry
applying shared writing across the grades and across the curriculum
teaching editing and revision
mapping out your writing instruction with Regie's own flexible, five-day lesson-planning model. show less

This is the handbook to successfully teaching writing in today's classrooms. Regie gives first hand accounts of what writing and its instruction should look like in the classroom, and it's not a boring activity. I can't tell you how many ideas I got just from reading this book.