Write Thing : Kwame Alexander Engages Students in Writing Workshop and You Can Too!

Imagine having a Newbery Medal-winning author in your classroom as an advisor and a friend, providing personal and practical advice on how to teach writing workshop in the modern-day classroom. With The Write Thing, you can do just that! Kwame Alexander is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Crossover. With more than 10 years of experience conducting writing workshops in schools, Alexander shows how to shake up the "traditional" writing workshop and make writing fun again! His magnetic personality, infectious enthusiasm, and love of teaching come through to inspire all students to write. The Write Thing teaches you how to move students step-by-step from ideas, to drafts, to finished works. Not only will you successfully motivate your students to write, you'll take that motivation one step further by providing guidance on how to create student-driven publications of their work. The confidence students will attain when they see their writing authentically published will be off the charts! The book has three parts: Writing, Publishing, and Presenting. The Writing section features Lessons in Action that teach students to produce writing that is worthy of being published. With a focus on poetry, Alexander's writing workshop uniquely meets the needs of reluctant writers. The Publishing section focuses on how to prepare and print digital and physical copies of students' work. The Presenting section provides suggestions to help students confidently present their poetry and other written pieces. Other exciting features include Kwame Time! videos for both teachers and students that bring Alexander into the classroom. Kwame's Quick Tips feature easy-to-implement ideas that have worked for Alexander. With an insightful foreword by author Kylene Beers, teacher success stories, and the most helpful appendix ever written, this essential resource will teach you how to tailor writing workshop to meet the particular needs of your students.

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Kwame Alexander is a poet, educator, publisher, Emmy® Award–winning producer and a #1 New York Times bestselling author of 45 books, including Why Fathers Cry at Night; Black Star; The Door of No Return;J vs. K, an illustrated novel penned with Jerry Craft; the motivational primer for graduates, creatives and professionals entitled Say Yes; Becoming Muhammad Ali (co-authored with James Patterson); and The Undefeated, a Newbery Honor and Caldecott Medal-winning picture book illustrated by Kadir Nelson.

Kwame is also the executive producer of the Emmy® Award-winning Disney+ TV series The Crossover, based on his Newbery Medal-winning novel of the same name. The series was produced in partnership with LeBron James’ Springhill Company and Big Sea Entertainment, Kwame’s production company. Big Sea is dedicated to creating innovative, highly original children’s and family entertainment. Other Big Sea projects include Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band, and Acoustic Rooster: Jazzy Jams, a PBS KIDS special and series of shorts based on his beloved children's book, as well as America's Next Great Author, a groundbreaking reality TV series for writers.

He regularly shares his passion for literacy, books and the craft of writing around the world at events such as Aspen Ideas, the Edinburgh Book Festival, and the Global Literacy Symposium in Ghana, where he opened the Barbara E. Alexander Memorial Library and Health Clinic. A recipient of a 2025 NAACP Image Award, Kwame is also the Artistic Director of Literary Arts for the Chautauqua (pronounced shuh-TAH-kwuh) Institution and the founder of the literacy non-profit One Word at a Time.

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