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Tommy Thomason

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Table of Contents
    Preface: Confronting the elephant
    Writeaerobics Workouts
    #1 I Teach Writing — But I Don’t See Myself as a Writer
    #2 Why Write?
    #3 How We Learn to Write
    #4 Writing as a Discipline
    #5 Whoever Said This Was Easy?
    #6 The Critic Inside Your Head
    #7 Writing Garbage: Why You Should Lower Your Standards
    #8 Choosing Topics: What Do I Write About?
    #9 Writing Is for Reading — Out Loud
    #10 Literary Tone Deafness: Developing An Ear for Writing
    #11 A Feel for the Language
    #12 Description: Forget the Thesaurus and Observe
    #13 Show, Don’t Tell: Brining Writing to Life
    #14 Everyone Has a Story
    #15 The Six Traits of Effective Writing
    #16 The Six Traits of Effective Writing: #1, Ideas and Development
    #17 The Six Traits of Effective Writing: #2, Organization
    #18 The Six Traits of Effective Writing: #3, Voice
    #19 The Six Traits of Effective Writing: #4, Word Choice
    #20 The Six Traits of Effective Writing: #5, Sentence Fluency
    #21 The Six Traits of Effective Writing: #6, Conventions
    #22 Writing Dialogue
    #23 Writing Leads
    #24 Point of View: The Perspective of the Narrator
    #25 Revision: How Writers View the Process
    #26 How Revision Works, and Why It’s Hard to Teach
    #27 Feel the Beat . . . Then Write
    #28 Bringing It in for a Landing: Writing Endings
    #29 Vivid Verbs: Bringing Life to Writing
    #30 Can We Teach Students to Write Creatively?
    #31 Flashbacks: Adding the Perspective of Time
    #32 Throwing Obstacles at Your Characters
    #33 Teaching Grammar
    #34 Writing as a Verbal Activity
    #35 How People Learn to Write: Implications for Instruction
    #36 Your Approach to Writing: Everyone’s Different . . . Live With It
    #37 To Prompt or Not to Prompt
    #38 Vocabulary and the Writer
    #39 Writing Simply
    #40 "And We Will Teach Them How": The Craft of Teaching the Craft of Writing

    Appendix A: Literary Composting: Why Keep a Writer’s Notebook?
    Appendix B: Playing With Leads: The Escaped Python Story
    Appendix C: Learning From Advertising Copywriters: Writing Simply
    Appendix D: Books on Writing and Illustrating: Helping Young Authors Identify With Their Older Counterparts
    References
    Index
    About the Author



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Table of Contents
    Foreword ix
    Bill Martin Jr.
    Introduction xi
    How to use Absolutely Write!
    Workshop 1          1
    Getting Started: Anyone Can Write
    Workshop 2          9
    Keeping a Writer's Notebook: Playing with Prose and Poetry
    Workshop 3          15
    Freewriting: Silencing Our Internal Editors
    Workshop 4          21
    Show, Don't Tell: Painting Pictures with Words
    Workshop 5          31
    The Power of Verbs: Transforming Lifeless Prose
    Workshop 6          37
    Crafting Engaging Leads: Great Beginnings for Good Writing
    Workshop 7          43
    Writing Dialogue: Putting Readers Into the Story
    Workshop 8          51
    Read Like a Writer: Learning to Write from the Authors You Love
    Workshop 9          61
    Developing Voice: Every Writer's Uniqueness
    Workshop 10          69
    Writing Expository Text: It's Easier Than You Think



NEW 2003! Available in May! Your concise, hands-on guide to improving students’ writing by improving your teaching!
Writeaerobics:
40 Workshop Exercises to Improve Your Writing Teaching
Tommy Thomason, Chairman, Department of Journalism, Texas Christian University

Here’s practical help for understanding writing better, experiencing writing yourself, and translating your understanding and experience into classroom learning. Included are 40 days of information — roughly two classroom months — about writing for you to think about . . . exercises to try in your own writing notebook . . . and activities to try with your own young writers. One day will be about truths in writing; another about writing teaching. Then you’ll use that information in something you write in your notebook, and finally put together an activity or craft a lesson for your students on the same topic. Flexibly designed to be used in whatever manner best suits your particular needs, the book allows you to spend as much or as little time as you need on the different areas. Each writeaerobic workout includes:

  • Inspiring quotes on writing
  • Quick lessons on the craft of writing or teaching writing
  • Writeaerobic exercises for your writer’s notebook
  • Ideas to build craft lessons for your writer’s workshop
Here’s just a sampling of the 40 Writeaerobics Workouts included:

Why write? / Writing as a discipline / The critic inside your head / Choosing topics: What do I write about? / A feel for the language / Show don’t tell: bringing writing to life / The six traits of effective writing: ideas and development, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions / Writing dialogue / How revision works and why it’s hard to teach / Vivid verbs: bringing life to writing / Can we teach students to write creatively? / Teaching grammar / To prompt or not to prompt / Writing simply / Appendixes cover: Literary composing / Playing with leads / Learning from advertising copywriters / Books on writing and illustrating

2003 80pp est. Paperbound ISBN 1-929024-61-4 Order #3028 $21.95

ABSOLUTELY WRITE:
Teaching the Craft Elements of Writing
Tommy Thomason and Carol York

This guide talks to you, adult to adult, about basic craft elements of writing and shows, from both adult and children's literature, what constitutes an effective lead or an engaging passage of description. And it shows you how that craft can be taught in a workshop setting! Included is coverage of: Getting Started, Keeping a Writer's Notebook, Freewriting, Painting Pictures with Words, The Power of Verbs, Crafting Engaging Leads, Writing Dialogue, Learning to Write from Authors, Developing Voice, Writing Expository Text.

2002 Paperbound 80pp ISBN 1-929024-40-1 Order #3022 $16.95

WRITE ON TARGET:
Preparing Young Writers to Succeed on State Writing Achievement Tests
Tommy Thomason and Carol York

Teach your students test-writing as a genre with this practical new resource. It's packed with ready-to-use tips, strategies, and ideas you can implement in your classroom to set the stage for test success without compromising students' growth as writers. Included are frequently asked questions, profiles of teachers who have successfully used the ideas, and an Appendix summarizing states' approaches to assessing writing.

2000 88pp Paperbound ISBN 0-926842-98-6 Order #3008 $16.95


WRITER TO WRITER:
How to Conference Young Authors
Tommy Thomason

See step-by-step how to conference young writers. Each chapter presents a different facet of the conference or the underlying philosophy and classroom practices, and each takes no more than 10 to 15 minutes to read.

1999 96pp Paperbound ISBN 0-926842-79-X Order #3002 $16.95

For fastest service, call toll-free: 1-800-934-8322 in U.S. or 1-781-762-5577 from outside the U.S.


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Table of Contents
    FOREWORD VII
    Seeing the Possibilities
    Michael R. Sampson, Ph.D.
    FEREMENTATION IX
    Brod Bagert
    INTRODUCTION XI
    Making Lemonade: Developing Successful Writers and Successful Test Takers
    WORKSHOP 1          1
    Putting the Puzzle Together: Building a Writer-Friendly Classroom
    Encourage Risk-Taking 3
    Model the Writing Process 3
    Marinate Young Writers in Great Literature 6
    Write On: Provide Time to Write 7
    Explore the Composing Techniques of Authors: Using Literature
    as a Writing Model 9
    Conference Young Authors 10
    Teach Skills Through Writing 11
    Publish Student Writing 12
    Putting the Puzzle Together 13
    References 14
    WORKSHOP 2          15
    Building Fluency: Creating Confident Test-Takers
    WORKSHOP 3          21
    What is good writing anyway? Using Children's Literature to Teach Writing
    WORKSHOP 4          27
    Using Test Rubrics to Teach Writing
    What's a Rubric? 28
    WORKSHOP 5          35
    Reaching Narrative and Expository Writing
    Teaching Narrative Writing 36
    Teaching Expository Writing 40
    Notes 43
    References 43
    WORKSHOP 6          45
    More Than Just Elaboration: Creating Experiences for Readers
    Reference 49
    WORKSHOP 7          51
    A Potpourri of Writing Strategies: Adding Variety to Your Writing Workshop
    Experience Writing from Different Perspectives 52
    Teach the Skills of Writing 53
    Share Poetry Every Day 55
    And More 55
    References 57
    WORKSHOP 8          59
    Getting Ready for the Test: Preparing Parents, Students, and School
    Preparing Parents to Understand the Test 59
    Preparing Students to Take the Test 61
    Preparing the School to Support the Test 63
    WORKSHOP 9          65
    Frequently Asked Questions: Issues and Answers on Writing and Testing
    AND SOME FINAL THOUGHTS 69
    Writers and Writing Tests: The Bottom Line
    APPENDIX 71
    States Use Various Approaches to Assess Writing
    Scott Beasley
    State Writing Assessments Grades 1--8          72
    Notes 75
    References 75
    AUTHOR INDEX 77
    SUBJECT INDEX 78
    ABOUT THE AUTHORS 79



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Contents
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Table of Contents
    Foreword vii
    Introduction xi
    Chapter 1
    Talking Writing in Writing Workshop 1
    Chapter 2
    Coach or Editor: What's Your Approach to Teaching Writing? 5
    Chapter 3
    Writing Conferences as Conversations Between Writers 9
    Chapter 4
    Learning to Talk Writing 15
    Chapter 5
    What Happens When We Conference? 19
    Chapter 6
    Learning From the Therapists 23
    Chapter 7
    Creating Confident Writers: The Effective Use of Praise 27
    Chapter 8
    How to Question Without Interrogating: Using Questions to Focus on Writing Issues 31
    Chapter 9
    Students Helping Students: Teaching Young Writers to Conference Each Other 37
    Chapter 10
    Building Editing Skills in Conference 41
    Chapter 11
    Conferencing to Encourage Revision 45
    Chapter 12
    Teaching Young Writers to Conference Themselves 49
    Chapter 13
    Finding Time to Conference 53
    Chapter 14
    No Palm Trees in Cincinnati: Establishing an Environment for Teaching Writing 57
    Epilogue Now What? 63
    Appendix Using Anecdotal Records in Writing Conferences 67
    About the Authors 71
    Author Index 73
    Subject Index 75