Teaching the Youngest Writers

This was a great book to help give teachers ideas on how to run writing workshops in the classroom. As a pre-service teacher this book really helped calm my nerves about teaching writing because does give so many helpful suggestions. It is truly a practical guide to writing workshops.

This is the best one of the best instructional models for teaching writing to the youngest of writers. It includes practical teaching strategies supported by sound teaching philospy. I wish it had been available when I began teaching 20+ years ago. I purchased it for a colleague who is a beginning teacher because I didn't want to part with my copy.

In Teaching the Youngest Writers, Marcia Freeman outlines a comprehensive writing curriculum for educators in the primary grades. She provides step-by-step lesson ideas for teaching writing skills, the writing process, and introducing your students to the various genres of writing. Ms. Freeman provides plenty of practical ideas and as well as creative suggestions from other teachers across the nation. She includes what to teach on the first day of school, what to expect from your students at different times of the year, how to link her program to your state standards, and even how to effectively manage your classroom environment. She explains the seven different stages of emergent writing and provides teaching strategies for students at each stage. She even includes additional ideas for teaching ESOL students. This in-depth resource provides everything you need to implement a writing curriculum. Yet, teachers can individualize the program by incorporating their own models and ideas. Plenty of examples following each lesson, codes, and page and chapter references make this book user-friendly and easy to navigate. I recommend this for any teacher who struggles with teaching writing, or is just looking for new ideas for their writing curriculum. To get the most out of it, read it thoroughly and familiarize yourself with the lessons and techniques. It will take some time to prepare and organize, but in the end, it will be well worth it!

As an educational writing consultant I recommend this book to all my K - 1 teachers. It's fabulous. Marcia Freeman is an educator who REALLY knows how to get emergent writers started.

Two years ago I attended the International Reading Association Conference in Orlando, Florida. While browsing the exhibits, I expressed my dismay at the lack of "how-to" books for teaching kindergarteners how to write--REALLY write. It turns out that I was talking to Marcia Freeman, and she recommended her book to me! It was not yet available, but I bought it as soon as it was published. It is THE BEST resource I've found on how to create an environment so that kindergartners will write. The book is very easy to read, and the author guides you the process of creating a classroom of young writers. She offers manageable and practical suggestions (you can tell she knows what she's talking because she has experienced it!). She takes the steps of the writing process (prewriting, writing, editing, etc.) and shows what they "look like" in a primary classroom. She also stresses how IMPORTANT it is to MODEL all aspects of the process. I've shared the ideas in this book with my colleagues, and they love them. If you teach kindergarten, first, or second grade, you need this book!