There's no avoiding standardized writing tests in grades 3-8. Yet while writing to prompts defies the ambitions of the writing workshop model, teachers overlook this increasingly important kind of writing at not only their own peril, but also that of their students.

In the groundbreaking Writing to Prompts, Janet Angelillo demonstrates how to apply the best practices you already know to help students succeed in the uncertain and challenging environment of on-demand writing - without abandoning your writing workshop or devaluing topic choice. Beginning with a framework for thinking about writing to prompts, Angelillo builds a complete unit of study for use in any writing workshop, complete with strategies for addressing the rigors of timed-test situations and practical suggestions for ongoing assessment. Writing to the Prompt also puts into your hands support materials such as charts and checklists as well as student writing from the many diverse classrooms where Angelillo's lessons have been successfully implemented. You'll have both the humane teaching techniques you need to develop students' facility to work with assigned topics across the content areas and up-close examples of the kinds of thinking, talking, and writing that stimulate thoughtful engagement with third-party ideas.

Don't give over your writing workshop to test prep, but don't ignore the reality that so much of the writing we do in life requires an authentic response to assigned topics. Read Janet Angelillo's Writing to the Prompt and make space in your curriculum for both choices and prompts.

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Helping Young Writers Use Conventions with Precision and Purpose
A whole new approach!
How do you teach punctuation in a way that students remember and apply to their own writing? With these mini-lessons and partner and small-group activities, students catch on to the power of punctuation by looking at how favorite authors use it and by noticing it in advertising, newspapers, and all kinds of text. The author shares great ideas for using picture books and big books, chapter books and more for learning about commas, capitalization, dashes, ellipses, and more. Suddenly, students are motivated to improve the punctuation in their own writing, because they see how punctuation is used by writers they admire. Includes lots of punctuation practice ideas, teaching ideas for all year, lessons, and tips for conferring with students about their work....

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....

 

• morning meetings
• minilessons
• read-alouds
• share times
• celebrations
• extended coaching sessions.

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