Writing About Reading: From Book Talk to Literary Essays, Grades 3-8

Janet Angelillo introduces us to an entirely new way of thinking about writing about reading. She shows us how to teach students to manage all the thinking and questioning that precedes their putting pen to paper. More than that, she offers us smarter ways to have students write about their reading that can last them a lifetime. She demonstrates how students' responses to reading can

• start in a notebook, in conversation, or in a read aloud
• lead to thinking guided by literary criticism
• reflect deeper text analysis and honest writing processes
• result in a variety of popular genres--book reviews, author profiles, commentaries, editorials, and the literary essay.

She even includes tools for teaching―day-by-day units of study, teaching points, a sample minilesson, and lots of student examples―plus chapters on yearlong planning and assessment.

Ensure that your students will be readers and writers long after they leave you. Get them enthused and empowered to use whatever they read―facts, statistics, the latest book--as fuel for writing in school and in their working lives. Read Angelillo.

For many years as the author of bestselling Heinemann books such as About the Authors, Study Driven, Already Ready, and In Pictures and In Words, and as a member of Heinemann’s Professional Development Services, Katie Wood Ray gave teachers resources and PD that transformed writing instruction and helped children discover a lifelong love of writing.

In 2014, Katie “moved to the other side of the desk” and joined the dynamic team of editors at Heinemann where she works closely with authors to craft powerful professional books on a range of literacy topics. Katie is also the series editor for the new Classroom Essentials books from Heinemann. Tasked with bringing foundational, progressive practices to a new generation of teachers, Katie works to ensure that the sharp focus and enhanced design of each book best serve the content. She also teamed up with her longtime collaborator, Lisa Cleaveland, to write one of the first books in the series, A Teacher’s Guide to Getting Started with Beginning Writers. 

You can find her on Twitter at @KatieWoodRay.

 

Janet Angelillo is the author of the Heinemann titles Whole-Class Teaching (2008), Writing to the Prompt (2005), and Writing About Reading (2003). She also wrote A Fresh Approach to Teaching Punctuation (2002) and Making Revision Matter (2005).

A middle and upper grades classroom teacher for years, Janet is a literacy consultant who has worked throughout the U.S. and Canada. She was a senior staff developer for the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project and worked beside teachers in New York city schools. Janet has taught advanced sections and given keynote addresses at the Teachers College Summer Institutes and other institutes around the country. She has also presented at many conferences, including NCTE, IRA, and the New York State, Connecticut, and Delaware Reading Associations.