The Dynamics of Writing Instruction: A Structured Process Approach for Middle and High School

Where do English teachers start when introducing different genres of writing?

"Learning begins with activity and learning benefits from reinforcement and repetition."
Peter Smagorinsky, Larry Johannessen, Elizabeth Kahn, and Thomas McCann

An indispensable companion for scaffolding the writing process, The Dynamics of Writing Instruction is a guide to working with any student who could benefit from a structured approach. The book is packed full of how-tos, offering everything a teacher needs to get started: gateway activities, strategies, handouts, and a blueprint of possibilities to consider while interpreting and implementing the curriculum. 

Peter Smagorinsky, Larry Johannessen, Elizabeth Kahn, and Thomas McCann draw on the teaching and research of George Hillocks to break down the writing process into more manageable steps. Across the commonly taught genres of personal and fictional narratives, essays of argumentation, comparison and contrast, extended definition, and research reports, the authors share teacher-designed, developmentally appropriate, task-based activities for:

• developing procedures for rendering ideas into text
• fostering goal-directed thinking
• generating appropriate, repeatable writing processes
• cultivating imagination alongside strategic thinking. 

George Hillocks' comprehensive review of writing research revealed that over a twenty-year period, structured process writing instruction yielded greater gains than any other method of teaching writing. Now, with The Dynamics of Writing Instruction, teachers can help students fulfill their writing potential by helping them learn by doing and by building their writing ability, one step at a time. 

Thomas M. McCann, Larry R. Johannessen, Elizabeth Kahn, Peter Smagorinsky, and Michael W. Smith were all graduate students of George Hillocks, Jr. at the University of Chicago. They have explored ways to engage critical readers, writers, and speakers in more than 30 books, in over 300 articles, and in hundreds of presentations all over the world. Together, they have over eighty years experience as secondary English teachers, and as university faculty they have taught hundreds of preservice and practicing teachers. They've been friends and collaborators for years.

Thomas M. McCann, Larry R. Johannessen, Elizabeth Kahn, Peter Smagorinsky, and Michael W. Smith were all graduate students of George Hillocks, Jr. at the University of Chicago. They have explored ways to engage critical readers, writers, and speakers in more than 30 books, in over 300 articles, and in hundreds of presentations all over the world. Together, they have over eighty years experience as secondary English teachers, and as university faculty they have taught hundreds of preservice and practicing teachers. They've been friends and collaborators for years.

Thomas M. McCann, Larry R. Johannessen, Elizabeth Kahn, Peter Smagorinsky, and Michael W. Smith were all graduate students of George Hillocks, Jr. at the University of Chicago. They have explored ways to engage critical readers, writers, and speakers in more than 30 books, in over 300 articles, and in hundreds of presentations all over the world. Together, they have over eighty years experience as secondary English teachers, and as university faculty they have taught hundreds of preservice and practicing teachers. They've been friends and collaborators for years.