Wondrous Words: Writers and Writing in the Elementary Classroom

I am participating in a book study with several other elementary teachers using this book. Our goal is to go beyond the canned formulaic paragraphs that our students are writing for our state test and to help them to grow into writers. The first chapter had us all excited as we suddenly began to understand how to read like writers. The book gives specific examples of the way authors craft their writing. I now see writer's craft with a different and much deeper understanding. Katie Ray shows the reader how to connect reading aloud with mentor texts and then devotes two chapters to listing mentor texts for teaching text structure and mentor texts for teaching students to craft with words. She also includes focus lessons for teaching. Her methods are exciting, motivating, and invigorating. But, I am still searching for the magic bullet that will let me teach like Katie Wood Ray and also be assured that my students are prepared to write for the boring prompts we see on the state test. Katie really promotes authentic writing, (which, of course, she should!), but the reality is that the state test always looms over my head. Katie doesn't address this issue in any other way except to criticize teachers who teach for the test. She wants students to spend lots of time thinking and envisioning their writing, which, I agree, a good writer does. But, with the time limits on the state test, I don't have that liberty. She criticizes a teacher who says "Don't spend more than ten minutes planning." and says the teacher might as well have said 2 plus 2 is 3. I'd love to be able to tell my students to take all the time they want to envision their writing and plan. But, in my state, 50% of my teacher evaluation is based upon how my students score on the test. If I tell them to spend their time thinking and envisioning their writing, they will run out of time and I will lose my job. So, Katie's book is a fantastic resource, guide, and motivator. I just have to find a way to use her ideas to motivate and excite my students while still preparing them for the boring, non-authentic prompts on our state test.

Wondrous Words provides an elegant philosophy for teaching writing to all ages. From cover to cover, Wood Ray's ideas and strategies prove memorable and coherent.Wood Ray describes several helpful ideas. She shows the importance of mentor texts, both to introduce novice writers to new structural possibilities and new "ways with words". Her explanation of the importance and fun of the revision provides necessary advocacy to an undervalued part of the writing process. My favorite aspect of the work is Wood Ray's approach to teaching grammar. Rather than starting artificially with bland terminology and boring worksheets, she starts from the natural end; she advocates allowing students to discover patterns for themselves, and giving them names as the explanations come up.As a college writing tutor and instructor-in-training, I recommend Wood Ray's work to anyone who desires a coherent philosophy of writing instruction for any age.

This volume helps elementary teachers who teach the writing process as practiced in The National Writing Project. This useful book of ideas will support teachers who want to do more than just assign and correct student papers. It is an excellent resource with bibliographies at the end of each chapter and a full one at the end of the book with all of the children's literature cited.

If you have to buy it for class, it's pretty good. Don't buy it a a supplement on your own accord.

I've taught for 21 years, but I always felt like there must be a better way to teach writing to children. This book tells how. Katie Wood Ray gives specific techniques for teaching structure, ways with words, and teaches you to teach your students to read like writers. For all of this, she uses the most marvelous children's books, most picture books but some young adult novels. I have worked on increasing my library under her direction, and I'm having a ball watching my students learn to love to write.

This a must read for all teachers of reading and writing in elementary grade levels. KWR outlines best practices for teaching an inquiry based ELA program then seemlessly brings you into her classroom to outline just how she does. Her writing style is easy to read!

I was required to have this for a college class, I didn't want it on my own, but it had some good information that i could use in my classroom. I'm happy because it came in great condition!

Great book for teaching students to write

great resource for understanding the role of the teacher as a writer and the teacher as a writing teacher