Writers Read Better: Narrative: 50+ Paired Lessons That Turn Writing Craft Work Into Powerful Genre Reading

When It Comes to Reading, Writers Have an Advantage

We know that writing skills reinforce reading skills, but what’s the best way to capitalize on this beneficial relationship? By flipping the traditional "reading lesson first, writing lesson second" sequence, Colleen Cruz ingeniously helps you make the most of the writing-to-reading connection with carefully matched, conceptually connected lesson pairs. The result is a healthy reciprocity that effectively and efficiently develops students’ literacy skills.

Backed by long-term academic and field research, Writers Read Better: Narrative presents a series of 50 tightly interconnected lesson pairs that can be implemented either as a complete curriculum or as a supplement to an existing program. Each pairing leads with a writing lesson, used as a springboard for the reading lesson that will follow.

Throughout the book’s four sections, organized to help you teach tightly aligned lessons and units on reading and writing narrative, you’ll discover

• Kid-friendly approaches to virtually every matter of craft, including symbolism, tenses, the role of first and last words, dialogue as character fingerprint, giving weight to what′s important, and much more 
• Clear guidance on the intention of each lesson, the type of narrative genre it’s ideally suited for, and step-by-step plans 
• Sample teacher language for introducing and coaching each lesson
• Mentor text excerpts to use as models for personal narrative, memoir, and story writing
• Tips on building and organizing a contemporary classroom library filled with inspiring, illustrative texts, and how you can incorporate the tools, technology and media available in your classroom to make each lesson most effective
• Sample student work, online videos and other supporting resources 

Complete with practical suggestions on adapting the lessons to suit the particular needs of your classroom as well as individual students, Writers Reader Better: Narrative offers a solid foundation for giving your students the advantage of powerful, transferable literacy skills.

M. Colleen Cruz is an educator, independent consultant, and author committed to making rich literacy education accessible. Her popular books include The Unstoppable Writing Teacher, the Writers Read Better series, and Border Crossing, a Tomás Rivera Mexican- American Children’s Books Finalist. Her student-centered, research-driven work is used by classroom teachers, administrators, and teacher education programs nationally and internationally. She lives in Brooklyn with her family, her persnickety dog Charlie, and way too many books.