Primary - Writing Magazine

A selection
of useful
resources
Primary
Writing

Through strategic routines, tips, advice, and resources, as
well as short, focused video clips, teachers can create the
sights and sounds of a thriving writing workshop in their F-6
classrooms where:
• Students spend most of their time writing-not just
learning about it
• Student choice is encouraged to help create
engaged writers
• Students are part of the formative assessment
process, managing their own growth as writers
• Students will look forward to writing
There are explanations of writing process, writing traits,
small-group strategy lessons and minilessons about the craft
of being a writer.
This book is a great introduction to the writing workshop. It
provides examples of what the teacher and students should
be doing in each part of the workshop and gives practical
activities for teachers who are new to writing workshop.
2019

This book shows teachers how to transform the Writer's Notebook from just
a place to write stuff down, to a vital, constantly evolving tool for each
individual child. From notebook set up, tips, lessons and questions of
whether to evaluate the notebook, Buckner gives teachers a lot to
consider.
Teacher questions Buckner addresses include:
• How do I launch the notebook?
• What mini-lessons can be used throughout the year to help
students become more skilled in keeping notebooks?
• How do I help students who are stuck in writing ruts with
notebooks?
• How do I help students use their learning from notebooks for other
writing?
• How do I organise notebooks so that the design is flexible, yet still
allows students to access information easily?
• How can writers' notebooks help students become better readers?
• How do I assess notebooks?
2005

A valuable resource for developing and maintaining a writing
workshop in the classroom.
The authors lay out each step in the writing workshop process,
including strategies, ideas and the foundational classroom
principles necessary for incorporating successful writing
workshops into each student’s daily schedule.
Each chapter details how a specific component of the writing
workshop looks, functions, and taught.
Areas include:
• the time and space required.
• short-term goals for the workshop
• how to launch the workshop with students
• what conferring with writers looks like
• how to incorporate literature in the workshop
• what skills to teach
• how to assess and evaluate.
2001

This book has 300 effective strategies for teaching. They have
been grouped beneath 10 crucial goals. This book supports
teachers to
• provide students step-by-step strategies for writing with
skill and craft
• coach writers using prompts aligned to a strategy
• present mentor texts that support a genre and strategy
• adjust instruction to meet individual needs
• demonstrate and explain a writing move
• provide feedback to young writers
There are suggestion for stocking your writing center, planning
units of study, celebrating student writing, keeping records ideas
for anchor charts and examples of student work.
2017

This book explores the teaching practice of interactive
writing and is specifically focused on the early phases of
writing. In a clear, step-by-step format, the authors show
how teachers can use interactive writing to teach a range of
foundational literacy skills by sharing the pen with young
writers.
Important features include a rich array of examples of
children's writing, down-to-earth practical advice,
suggestions for using children's literature and art in the
writing program, numerous photos of children's work, and
suggestions for professional development.
The book is filled with practical information on how to get
started with interactive writing, with explicit details from
specific materials to fine teaching points.
2018

This expanded edition enables teachers to construct a
common vision for student achievement that effectively
and efficiently engages all students in the robust,
authentic and meaningful literacy learning.
It also provides a way to look for specific evidence of
learning from kindergarten through grade eight, and
across eight instructional contexts.
2016

This book shows you how to assess and teach writing in a way that’s
practical and achievable. It focuses on processes for teachers to develop
their student writers:
• first read the writing
• assess it using the traits of writing
• teach the writers and guide revision decisions using traits as a
common language and map
Part 1 walks you through the traits of writing and their key qualities,
showing step by step how to read students’ writing and offer feedback that
nudges them forward through the revision process.
Part 2 focuses on instruction, offering specific guidance for how to use
what you’ve learned from reading student writing to design lessons that
scaffold students toward making their own craft decisions and revisions. In
addition, there’s an entire chapter devoted to mentor texts that you can use
to model traits and key qualities for your students.
2018

This book introduces each trait in depth. It examines samples of
students writing looking for evidence of the traits.
This would be a useful book study to build teacher knowledge of
each of the traits.
It is designed for teachers up to year 3.
2005

This book introduces each trait in depth. It examines samples of
students writing looking for evidence of the traits.
This would be a useful book study to build teacher knowledge of
each of the traits.
It is designed for teachers of years 3 - 6
2007

This book introduces each trait in depth. It examines samples of
students writing looking for evidence of the traits.
This would be a useful book study to build teacher knowledge of
each of the traits.
It is designed for teachers of years 5 - 8
2010

Helps teachers ensure that each student finds his or her
path to meeting their learning goals.
Serravallo’s four-step protocol leads teacher towards
goal-directed instruction:
• collect the data
• analyse the data
• synthesise data
• develop instructional plans
• follow-ups to monitor progress.
Designed for Grades 3-6
2013

Helps teachers ensure that each student finds his or her
path to meeting their learning goals.
Serravallo’s four-step protocol leads teacher towards
goal-directed instruction:
• collect the data
• analyse the data
• synthesise data
• develop instructional plans
• follow-ups to monitor progress.
Designed for Grades F-2
2014

This book includes five specific units of study for your writing
workshop that help students prepare thoughtfully to write.
The units also help children to differentiate the planning and
organization needed to write fiction, personal narrative,
nonfiction, Q & A books and pattern books.
Each unit is concise, logically laid-out descriptions of how each
unit of study operates, a variety of helpful tables, charts, and
assessment diagnostics, as well as elaborations, teaching
points for minilessons and conferences, troubleshooting tips,
and month-by-month planning assistance.
2005

This book includes five specific units of study for your
writing workshop that help students prepare thoughtfully to
write.
Each type of writing has a different purpose and audience
and the units of study include concise, logically laid-out
descriptions of how each one operates, a variety of helpful
tables, charts, and assessment diagnostics, as well as
elaborations, teaching points for minilessons and
conferences, troubleshooting tips, and month-by-month
planning assistance.
2007

A teacher plays a pivotal role in any effective
school writing program and at every year level.
This book is a passionate portrayal of the journey
teachers go on when they decide to write for and
with their young writers.
Alan takes you through the approach of modelling
and demonstrating writing for students as they
struggle and learn from the challenges, and joys, of
becoming confident writers and communicators.
When your students see that writing is something
you do too, a sense of community is created in the
classroom and you become more credible as a
teacher of writing. The results are happier, more
resourceful students who aren't turned off by the
idea of writing, and benefits that can be seen in all
subjects involving literacy.
2011

This book focuses on building teacher capacity to name
and notice the strengths in student writing.
Bomer discusses the importance of the admiring lens and
provides advice on giving effective feedback to students
including:
• spot hidden stylistic gems in writing that is
unconventional or vernacular
• uncover content and organizational gems even when
you don't find the subject matter engaging or
significant
• respond by naming and celebrating writers' gems
instead of hunting for mistakes
• Give feedback using the inspiring language of
published writers that motivates students to keep
writing, revising, and polishing their gems.
2010

In this book Anderson explores the different paths a
writing conference can take and gives teachers advice
for making these useful for the writer including:
• how to get started with conferring, or
improve your existing conferences
• how to use conferences to meet the diverse
needs of your student writers
• how to fit conferences into your busy writing
workshop schedule.
The book includes links to high quality videos that
would be excellent PD for any group of teachers
wanting to learn more about teaching and conferring
with writers.
2018

This book looks at how teachers can get beginning
writers creating books from their very first week at
school!
It includes links to videos and has lots of food for
thought about setting beginning writers up for
success.
2018

Authors Judy Davis and Sharon Hill are two expert
teachers who have lived the teaching of writing from
inside the classroom. This book is a guide packed with
practical ideas, tools and thoughtful strategies for your
classroom.
There are several units of study included.
Davis and Hill help teachers prepare tools, address
management issues, get the work started, and build
momentum as students increase their understanding of
good writing practice.
2003

This book is organized around six writing genres, more
than fifty mini-lessons deal with specific skills that help
students write effective fiction and nonfiction in such
genres as:
• Personal memoir
• Fictional narrative
• Informational report
• Persuasive writing
• Procedural writing
• Poetry
• The concluding chapter pulls all the threads
together with a multi-genre project that involves
students in using the skills they have learned
throughout the school year
The book also offers chapters devoted to the writing
process, writing workshop, and using rubrics for
instruction and assessment using the 6 Traits.
2010