Writing to Make an Impact: Expanding the Vision of Writing in the Secondary Classroom

Through ideas and practices straight from the classrooms of outstanding teachers, this lively resource illustrates writing that makes an impact on a reader, a writer, or a cause—writing that everyone wants to read. The book is rich with student work that shows how writing can make things happen in the world. The authors provide ready-to-use lessons that include a full range of writing, including poetry, narrative, petitions, proposals, emails, self-reflections, long-term projects, and critical analyses.

“Young people yearn to have an impact on the world but often lack the tools to make change. This book demonstrates how shifting the focus and purposes for writing can turn students' frustration with the status quo into action. There’s no time to waste. The need for change—both in school and in society—is urgent.”
—Carol Jago, past president, National Council of Teachers of English and associate director, California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA

“In true National Writing Project style, Sandy Murphy and Mary Ann Smith take us inside the classrooms of remarkable teachers to see how they create contexts for young writers to pursue writing they care about for purposes that matter. Readers will find lots to take back to their own settings to engage this remarkable generation of young people in our classrooms.”
—Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, Executive Director, National Writing Project

1136754569
Writing to Make an Impact: Expanding the Vision of Writing in the Secondary Classroom

Through ideas and practices straight from the classrooms of outstanding teachers, this lively resource illustrates writing that makes an impact on a reader, a writer, or a cause—writing that everyone wants to read. The book is rich with student work that shows how writing can make things happen in the world. The authors provide ready-to-use lessons that include a full range of writing, including poetry, narrative, petitions, proposals, emails, self-reflections, long-term projects, and critical analyses.

“Young people yearn to have an impact on the world but often lack the tools to make change. This book demonstrates how shifting the focus and purposes for writing can turn students' frustration with the status quo into action. There’s no time to waste. The need for change—both in school and in society—is urgent.”
—Carol Jago, past president, National Council of Teachers of English and associate director, California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA

“In true National Writing Project style, Sandy Murphy and Mary Ann Smith take us inside the classrooms of remarkable teachers to see how they create contexts for young writers to pursue writing they care about for purposes that matter. Readers will find lots to take back to their own settings to engage this remarkable generation of young people in our classrooms.”
—Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, Executive Director, National Writing Project

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Writing to Make an Impact: Expanding the Vision of Writing in the Secondary Classroom

Writing to Make an Impact: Expanding the Vision of Writing in the Secondary Classroom

Writing to Make an Impact: Expanding the Vision of Writing in the Secondary Classroom

Writing to Make an Impact: Expanding the Vision of Writing in the Secondary Classroom

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Overview

Through ideas and practices straight from the classrooms of outstanding teachers, this lively resource illustrates writing that makes an impact on a reader, a writer, or a cause—writing that everyone wants to read. The book is rich with student work that shows how writing can make things happen in the world. The authors provide ready-to-use lessons that include a full range of writing, including poetry, narrative, petitions, proposals, emails, self-reflections, long-term projects, and critical analyses.

“Young people yearn to have an impact on the world but often lack the tools to make change. This book demonstrates how shifting the focus and purposes for writing can turn students' frustration with the status quo into action. There’s no time to waste. The need for change—both in school and in society—is urgent.”
—Carol Jago, past president, National Council of Teachers of English and associate director, California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA

“In true National Writing Project style, Sandy Murphy and Mary Ann Smith take us inside the classrooms of remarkable teachers to see how they create contexts for young writers to pursue writing they care about for purposes that matter. Readers will find lots to take back to their own settings to engage this remarkable generation of young people in our classrooms.”
—Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, Executive Director, National Writing Project


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780807778609
Publisher: Teachers College Press
Publication date: 05/01/2020
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Sales rank: 669,367
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

Sandra Murphy is former secondary teacher and professor emerita of education at the University of California, Davis. Mary Ann Smith is a former secondary teacher. She directed the Bay Area and California Writing Projects and served as director of government relations for the National Writing Project.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

1 Writing to Make an Impact 1

Writing That Matters 2

Writing That Goes Places 3

Impact in the Here and Now 4

Writing in the "Real World" 6

Expanding the Vision of Writing in School 7

Classroom Closeups 8

Teaching Playbook 10

Student Writing 11

2 Getting Your Mojo 12

About This Chapter: Building Confidence and Know-How for Writing That Makes an Impact 12

Mojo Builder #1: Understanding the Context for Writing 12

Classroom Closeup: Helping Writers Connect with Context 13

Student Writing 15

Mojo Builder #2: Helping Writers Come Up With Content 16

Classroom Closeup: Building and Shaping Content 17

Teaching Playbook 24

3 Writing Your Narrative 29

About This Chapter: Doing Justice to Narrative 30

Classroom Closeup: Letting Stories Do the Work 31

Classroom Closeup: Making Narrative Sing 34

Teaching Playbook 42

4 Writing for Poetic Effect 47

About This Chapter: What Comes from Writing Poems 48

Classroom Closeup: Language and Identity 49

Poetry and Narrative 51

Poetry or Prose or What? 53

The Takeaways 54

Teaching Playbook 55

5 Writing to Take Action 60

About This Chapter: Educating for Democracy with Civic Engagement 62

Classroom Closeup: Teaching Students How to Take Action 63

The Role of an Advocate 63

Teaching Civic Engagement Tactics 64

Putting Civic Engagement Projects in Perspective 68

Student Reflections 69

Highs and Lows of Civic Engagement Projects 70

Motivating Students to Take Action 73

Teaching Playbook 76

6 Writing to Figure Things Out 81

About This Chapter: Reflective Writing to Enhance Learning 82

Classroom Closeup: Making Economics Personally Meaningful 83

Figuring Things Out Through Writing in the Disciplines 87

Classroom Closeup: Using Reflections to Stop and Take Stock 89

Teaching Playbook 92

7 Writing to Think Critically 95

About This Chapter: Capitalizing on Curiosity 95

Classroom Closeup: The Proteus Project 97

Classroom Closeup: "I Wish I'd Been There" 109

Writing History 114

Teaching Playbook 117

8 Conclusion 126

Expanding Writing Tasks and Experiences 127

Getting Started 129

Play the Name Game 131

Last but Not Least 132

References 133

Index 139

About the Authors 147

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Young people yearn to have an impact on the world but often lack the tools to make change. Sandra Murphy and Mary Ann Smith demonstrate how shifting the focus and purposes for writing can turn students' frustration with the status quo into action. There’s no time to waste. The need for change—both in school and in society—is urgent. “
Carol Jago, past president of the National Council of Teachers of English and associate director of the California Reading and Literature Project at UCLA


“In true National Writing Project style, Sandy Murphy and Mary Ann Smith take us inside the classrooms of remarkable teachers to see how they create contexts for young writers to pursue writing they care about for purposes that matter. Readers will find lots to take back to their own settings to engage this remarkable generation of young people in our classrooms, but I suspect they will also find some ‘mojo’ for themselves as writers and teachers who want to make an impact.”
Elyse Eidman-Aadahl, executive director, National Writing Project

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