Four by Four: Practical Methods for Writing Persuasively

Geared toward English and social studies teachers as well as school librarians, this book provides a clear and concise way to approach the teaching of persuasive writing―and to develop the skills students need to excel on high stakes tests as well.

In Four by Four: Practical Methods for Writing Persuasively, well-known authors and teachers of writing Joyce Armstrong Carroll and Edward E. Wilson provide a practical guide to teaching students how to write persuasively. Organized in four chapters, each containing four sections, the text opens with a history of rhetoric that serves as a logical preface to the persuasive writing basics, guides, and patterns presented in the remainder of the book.

It covers topics such as the Carroll/Wilson Inquiry Schemata as a data collection technique for persuasive writing, planning and organizing a persuasive paper, strategies for efficient editing, and writing the conclusion. Appropriate for educators who work with fourth-grade through college-level students in English and social studies, this guidebook spotlights the research process, a 21st-century skill that teachers should teach collaboratively with their school librarians.

Joyce Armstrong Carroll, EdD, HLD, is codirector of Abydos Learning International, formerly the New Jersey Writing Project in Texas (NJWPT), with Edward E. Wilson.

Edward E. Wilson is codirector of Abydos Learning International, formerly the New Jersey Writing Project in Texas (NJWPT), with Joyce Armstrong Carroll.