3 stars (Review of The Art of Teaching Writing) - Calkins book was an easy, yet informative read. As a education student, I learned a lot about how to motivate children to want to write. Calkins techniques are practical and simple. It seems that the book could be geared to not just elementary grades, but also to middle school ages. The examples of student writings were great. I will definitely be re-reading this book when I begin teaching in a couple of years.
4 stars (The Art of Teaching and Writing) - In the book The Art of Teaching and Writing, Lucy McCormick Calkins discusses various types of ways on how to instruct children to write efficient papers. The techniques that she illustrates in her book mostly came from her original ideas. These effective ideas could be used while instructing children or when teacher workshops are set up. Calkins writing style was very easy to read. She sets various examples to help illustrate her teaching techniques. One issue that I had with this book was the fact that the topics were too broad. Another problem that I have is that this book is not appropriate for elementary teachers. It could possible be used for middle school students but it is more suitable for teachers who are instructing High School Students. Overall, I feel that this book was organized very well and was easy to read.
3 stars (Good Book for Elementary School Teachers) - The Art of Teaching and Writing by Lucy Calkins is a book that I would recommend for new Elementary School Teachers. This book makes an attempt at illustrating how teachers can create creative writing lesson plans for young students. I must admit the size of this book was a little intimidating. It isn't really the type of book that you would read straight through, but perhaps skim through picking out material that pertains to what you want to convey to your students. The material in each chapter did not always flow well and a few times I found myself having to reread what I had just read. However I did enjoy the short stories the author included and the idea of students forming their writing around their own lives.The fundamentals of good writing are clearly identified. The author goes through great pains to stress the importance of writing rough drafts, revising and allowing others to review the work and edit it. This book encourages creativity as long as it follows the fundamentals of good writing. |
