WHAT DO THE “EXPERTS” TELL US?“Being able to write well not only

makes students more effective communicators, it also give them more enjoyment, pride, and independence, and that, in turn, increases their motivation to work harder and do well. Competence leads to confidence, which leads to want to write more.”

- Regie Routman

WHAT DO THE “EXPERTS” TELL US?“Teach the writer not the writing. Our decisions must be guided by what might help this writer rather than what might help this writing.”

- Lucy Calkins

WHAT DO THE “EXPERTS” TELL US?“Students will use writing in countless ways: to communicate, express, question, persuade, synthesize, and teach. It takes years to gain control and mastery over written language. But students who learn to write well truly have one of the most powerful tools imaginable. And it is something that nobody can take away from them!”

-Ralph Fletch

WHAT DO THE “EXPERTS” TELL US?

“In the writer’s workshop we don’t teach students what to write. We teach them how to write.”

- Katie Wood Ray

WHAT DO THE “EXPERTS” TELL US?“Write yourself. Invite children to do something you’re already doing. If you’re not doing it, hey, the kids say I can’t wait to grow up and not have to write, like you. They know. And for the short term and the long term, you’ll be doing yourself a favor by writing.”

-Donald Graves

WHAT DO THE “EXPERTS” TELL US?“While we do of course, need to teach writing explicitly- to include all the individual skills and techniques that go into producing clear, excellent, engaging communication- we are far more productive as teachers of writing when we embed that teaching in writing for purposes and audiences that students understand and value.”

- Regie Routman

WHAT DO THE “EXPERTS” TELL US?“The author does not only write when he’s at his desk, he writes all day long, when he is thinking, when he is reading, when he is experiencing; everything he sees and feels is significant to his purpose and, consciously or unconsciously, he is forever storing and making over his impressions.” -Somerset Maugham

WHAT DO THE “EXPERTS” TELL US?“It is critical for students to have

frequent, predictable time set asked for them to write. Plan to schedule a minimum of three days a week for an hour each day. Four or five days is even better.”

-Ralph Fletcher

WHAT DO THE “EXPERTS” TELL US?“When children have the opportunity to chat with each other about their topics and their writing, writing becomes less lonely.”- Lucy Calkins

WHAT DO THE “EXPERTS” TELL US?“Responsibility is the key to

classroom organization. Children need to have a clear sense of what is expected of them during writing time. There should be no question in their minds about what they are to do when they write.”

- Donald Graves

WHAT DO THE “EXPERTS” TELL US?“ To become writers, children believe that they have something worthwhile to say and they learn to say it in meaningful and significant ways. Teachers build a sense of trust within the classroom as well as in the school as a whole. The school and classrooms become places where children feel safe, protected, and loved.”

When Poverty’s Children Write Bobbie Solley

WHAT DO THE “EXPERTS’ TELL US? “When teacher immerse students in

reading and studying the kind of writing they want them to do, they are actually teaching at two levels. They teach students about a particular genre or writing issue that is the focus of the study, but they also teach students to use a habit of mind experienced writers use all the time. They teach them how to read like writers.”

- Katie Wood Ray