Nonfiction Craft Lessons: Teaching Information Writing K-8

"The best nonfiction writing begins with a writer's passionate curiosity about a subject."Genre: Education and Teaching.Number of Pages: 148.This book is meant to teach information writing in elementary and middle school, but I think that it can also be useful for high school and college English courses. I think that the instructor would just have to take some of the ideas and alter it to fit the age of the student. However, there are many older students that still struggle with the foundations of writing nonfiction, so these lessons are very helpful. They do not feel intimidating.This book is amazing for detailed writing lessons. They break it down by each specific writing skill, and include a discussion of the lesson, how to teach it, and a list of resources to use in the lesson. It contains ways to set up your classroom’s framework to be prepared for nonfiction writing to be seen positively. Then it splits into sections of lessons (K-2, 3-4, and 5-8). But, like I said before, a lot of these lessons can still be made applicable to older learners who struggle with the basics. The best part of this book is that it offers many examples of texts to use with lessons. I think that can be the hardest part about making lessons since it can be very time-consuming to search for a book that matches the lesson.I think it is helpful to give this book a full read through, and then bookmark each lesson that can be used for your particular course. Then you can go back to specific sections as you need it. In the appendix, there are coordinating organizers, booklets, and short texts for some of the lessons.To read the rest of my review, go here: [...]

Portalupi and Fletcher are the pioneers of the Writer's Workshop. This book is extremely helpful for both novice and experienced teachers with model mini-lessons that can be used to teach students discrete writing skills (such as adding supporting details, listening for your voice, writing an engaging hook) throughout the writing process. All of the lessons are marked with grade ranges for which they are appropriate (K-2, 3-4, 5-8) and suggestions for mentor texts. This was a valuable resource for me when I was new to teaching writing and I now use it in training sessions when teaching new teachers.

I knew this book would be great because Ralph Fletcher is a great writer and writing teacher, and because I have his first book on the craft of writing narratives.These authors share the real secrets of good writing with teachers and students. For teachers, the lesson seeds and book models are excellent and accessible. For students, each lesson focuses on a skill that makes writing worth reading.... and it shows them how to do it!Excellent resource for teaching Common Core Writing Standards!

Fantastic way to help professional development come to life. The teachers I worked with who tried some of these lessons had meaningful dialogue about the resulting student work and how they could support improved writing in their classes.

Teachers who are organizing a large multi-week research project for elementary or middle school students are probably the audience who will find this book most helpful. It is not particularly useful for teachers instructing argumentative writing or general expository writing units. I usually enjoy Portalupi's Craft Lessons books, particularly since I am a believer in the writers' workshop model of instruction. While this does have some good suggestions for teaching about the research process and the organization of information, it is not particularly innovative. Nor is the information presented in novel lesson plans. I was also disappointed that there wasn't more here about helping students to refine the content and coherence of non-fiction writing.

This book is very helpful! It is full of strategies and how to apply them the classroom.

Love this book!! Great, simple lessons which engage the students of all ages. The lessons are easily adaptable and encourage critical thinking!

Nonfiction is such an important part of literacy, and sometimes easily overlooked. This book has practical lessons and excellent mentor text to illustrate the mini-lessons being taught. Even if you can't find the particular book they suggest, you can easily find examples from your own list of favorites. I especially liked how the book was divided so that you can efficiently find lessons appropriate for your grade level.I bent many pages in my copy because the lessons are easy to use and effective! Another plus, these lessons are "boy friendly".