A Good Fit for All Kids: Collaborating to Teach Writing in Diverse, Inclusive Settings

2021 Divergent Book Award for Excellence in 21st Century Literacies Research

A Good Fit for All Kids supports teachers in constructing research-based, collaborative approaches to teaching writing, in print and technology-mediated forms, for diverse, inclusive classrooms.
 
Based on lessons drawn from an experimental writing enrichment program, the book illustrates how teachers and students benefit from a well-sequenced writing curriculum with high expectations for a heterogeneous population of participants, including students who have often been poorly served by writing instruction in schools.
 
Former high school teacher and teacher educator Kelly Chandler-Olcott delves into detail on key topics such as planning, inquiry stance, modeling, and conferring, and shows how each can be better adapted to inclusive classrooms with innovative uses of writers’ notebooks, “noticings” activities, and “on the fly” conferencing. The book also includes lesson plan templates, protocols for examining student work, routines for balancing explicit instruction with group work, and ideas for strategic grouping at different stages of composing, among other tested tools.
 
A teacher-friendly resource grounded in empirical research yet filled with practical advice, A Good Fit for All Kids is uniquely suited for educators interested in making high-quality writing a special focus for professional learning communities and other collaborative efforts.

Kelly Chandler-Olcott is Laura J. and Douglas Meredith Professor for Teaching Excellence in the Syracuse University School of Education, where she coordinates undergraduate and graduate programs in English education. Her scholarly interests include design-based research literacy across the disciplines, and collaborative approaches to teacher education in diverse, inclusive settings. The author of five other books and more than seventy-five chapters and articles, she is currently serving a six-year term as coeditor with Dr. Kathleen A. Hinchman of the International Literacy Association’s Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy.