Product Details

• Author: Ann Marie Corgill
• Year: 2008
• Grade Range: 1-3

• Media: 236 pp/paper
• ISBN: 978-157110-374-1
• Item No.: WEB-0374

From the first chapter of Ann Marie Corgill's Of Primary Importance you experience the swirling energy, the sights, and the sounds of a primary classroom. "Step inside" she says, "and breathe the writing workshop air with me. Take a look at a primary classroom, and take a minute to watch and listen and see real learning, real writing in action." Throughout these pages, you'll see Ann Marie guiding her primary students into deep and meaningful explorations of a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction. Watch as her classroom community progresses into eager and independent writers speaking with clarity, voice, and an undeniable understanding of the power and purposes of putting pen, pencil, crayon, and paper to work!

Forming the heart of the book are detailed units of study on poetry, nonfiction, and fiction writing that provide a clear demonstration of the writing workshop process at work throughout a school year. You'll also find examples of favorite texts for teaching various craft components, ideas for classroom organization and where to purchase materials, suggestions for publishing student work, lists of professional resources and, most importantly, inspiring examples of what children who are empowered to write can and will write.

Of Primary Importance is not a how-to manual as much as it is a celebration of the idiosyncratic journey of teaching young children to write. If you are a grade-one through grade-three teacher struggling to get your students writing well, if you want to push your writing workshop to new dimensions, or if you are just plain skeptical that primary kids can write something beyond "I love my mom. I love my dog. The end," this book is for you. You will come away inspired, challenged, supported, and wiser in your classroom writing instruction.

Table of Contents

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Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: What's Essential in Teaching Young Writers?
Chapter 2: Writers Will Live Up to What You Expect of Them
Chapter 3: Designing the Learning Landscape: Providing Space and Materials for Young Writers to Grow
Chapter 4: Planning Instruction for the Writing Journey
Chapter 5: Establishing the Writing Community: Routines, Tools, and Writing Strategies
Chapter 6: From Ordinary to Extraordinary: Teaching and Learning About Poetry with Primary Writers
Chapter 7: Inquiring Minds Want to Know: Teaching and Learning About Nonfiction with Primary Writers
Chapter 8: Picture This: Teaching and Learning About Picture Books with Primary Writers
Chapter 9: Publishing Possibilities: Tips and Techniques for Sharing, Showcasing, and Celebrating Student Writing
Chapter 10: Conclusion: Growing Forward with Young Writers
Appendix A: Record Sheets for Writers
Appendix B: Support Sheets for Establishing a Writing Community
Appendix C: Poetry Study Support Sheets
Appendix D: Nonfiction Study Support Sheets
Appendix E: Picture Book Study Support Sheets
Children's Books
References
Index

Ann Marie Corgill
If it weren't for those scary numbers, Ann Marie Corgill wouldn't be a teacher today. "I wanted to be an architect," she says. "But I was afraid of the math classes."
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