Coaching Writing in Content Areas

William Strong has worked in middle school and high school literacy instruction for over four decades. Besides presenting hundreds of workshops and many conference talks, he has authored a dozen books and teacher resources, including Coaching Writing: The Power of Guided Practice (Heinemann, 2001). Bill was the consulting author in composition for the Writer's Choice textbooks (Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2001) and the series consultant for English Matters! (Grolier, 2000), and he served for ten years on the National Writing Project Advisory Board. In addition, Bill founded the Utah Writing Project at Utah State University and directed it for 25 years while also teaching courses in content area literacy, English education, and writing. Both his teaching and research have received college-level awards, and professional groups have honored him for his statewide leadership in pre-service and in-service teacher education. He enjoys downhill skiing, motorcycle touring, and working with school districts and National Writing Project sites. Readers can contact the author at Bill.Strong@usu.edu or wcstrong@msn.com.

• Foreword by Dan Kirby About the Author PREFACE Introducing Insight New to This EditionNow a Small Confession Writing and Skiing Learning Together Why Writing Matters Good News from NAEP Writing on the Home Front Mapping the Chapters Acknowledgments Write for Insight Activity 1 Writing from the Inside Out Remembered Writing Narration as KnowledgePrompting NarrativeLiteracy Autobiographies Reflecting on NarrativeContent Area ExamplesNarrative InsightsWrite for Insight Activity2 Challenging the Hidden Curriculum Teacher as Writer Resistance to Writing The Hidden Curriculum of Writing Roots of the Hidden Curriculum Writing without Grades Note-Taking and Note-Making Resisting the Hidden Curriculum Making Learning Personal Writing-to-Learn SamplesThinking Outside the Box Write for Insight Activity 3 Exploring Expressive Writing Windows to the Heart Opening Expressive Windows Quotation Prompts Guided Imagery Dramatic Scenarios (Cases) Role-Playing Dialogue Writing A Reader/Writer Dialogue Write for Insight Activity 4 Tapping the Power of Metaphor Valentine’s Day The Power of Metaphor Exercising Metaphor More about Metaphor Using Semantic Charts Using Pattern Poems Metaphors in Prose Metaphors of Teaching Write for Insight Activity 5 Helping Basic Writers Succeed Basics of Good Teaching Wall Text Basics Back to Human Basics Developing Transcribing Skill Using Content-Based Dictation Summarizing and Paraphrasing Teaching Basics Strategically Sentence-Combining Basics Workshop-Style TeachingA Bridge to Literacy Write for Insight Activity6 Designing Assignments and Rubrics Darth Vader in Action Assignments by Design Assignments to Motivate Ten Design Principles Context + RAFT = CRAFT Case Study of an Assignment Content Area Writing Tasks Darth Vader Revisited Write for Insight Activity 7 Managing the Writing Process Coaching Writing Visualizing the Writing Process Understanding the Model Guiding Cycle 1 Activities (Prewriting) Guiding Cycle 2 Activities (Revising) Prompting Self-Assessment Bumps in Process Teaching Managing Collaborative Writing Write for Insight Activity 8 Coaching and Judging Writing Responding to Writing Thinking about Assessment Coaching versus Judging Getting Ready to Coach Up-Front Coaching Coaching as Response Audiotape Coaching Getting Ready to Judge Judging Portfolios Coaching as a Lifetime Sport Write for Insight Activity 9 Researching Outside the BoxA Research Story Personalized Research The Saturation Report A Student Saturation Report The I-Search Paper Multigenre Research Project Challenging Advanced Students Traditional Guided Research The Problem of Fakery Write for Insight Activity 10 Writing in a Digital World Cultural Divide iPod Inspiration WebQuest Nation PowerPoint Pedagogy A Gift of Glogs Guerrilla Journalism Classroom Demonstration Blogging BasicsExploratory First StepsWrite for Insight ActivityEPILOGUERevisiting Insight Listening to Students Coaching with Insight Leveling with Students The “Writing Next” Report Listening to ResearchWrite for Insight ActivityAPPENDIX A Literacy Autobiography Case StudyAPPENDIX B Bob Tierney’s Concept-Trigger WordsAPPENDIX C Macie Wolfe’s Cubing ActivityAPPENDIX D Generic Graphic Organizers APPENDIX E Content Area Writing Assignments References Index

I found many helpful examples and suggestions. I would definitely recommend this book to our literacy coach for use in future training sessions. The concepts and examples were up-to-date and mirrored some of the materials I've read in other publications or heard in workshops I've attended. The concept of using writing as a learning tool is very timely for the introduction of writing into content area classrooms. The book offers a wide range of examples that span the struggling writer, the resistant writer, and the motivated writer. Madelaine Kingsbury, English Teacher, Overbrook High School, Philadelphia, PA This book has the feel of an English-teacher-oriented book, although it clearly has ideas and implications for ALL secondary teachers. The market appears saturated with books on how to teach content area reading and literacy, with writing, as Strong incorporates it, as an afterthought. There is clearly a need for Strong's book in the market of writing across the curriculum. I definitely did enjoy the author's tone overall. It is always personal and never patronizing. The author attempts to reach all content area teachers, a truly difficult challenge, which he meets with good success. I strongly recommended it to my student teacher who is looking for more writing ideas for her classes (she loved the idea of students writing a dialogue between animals on the food chain). The discussion on note-taking and note-making was excellent and immediately useful for teachers. I already use Cornell Notes in my classes, and this is a natural transition. The Formats for Writing chart on page 46 is invaluable. Excellent. I am an English teacher, and my students would eagerly do ANY of the writing assignments in this book... Margaret Carlock, English Teacher, Lecanto High School, Lecanto, FL