Secret Writing: Keys to the Mysteries of Reading and Writing

Secret Writing: Keys to the Mysteries of Reading and Writing By Peter Sears 180 pp. Grades: high school, university $14.95 paperback Secret Writing is a fascinating study of the nature of codes. Beginning with the word game Hangman, and proceeding to discuss Egyptian hieroglyphs, prehistoric cave paintings, military codes, the surprising sense of nonsense, and difficult…

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Poetry Everywhere: Teaching Poetry Writing in School and in the Community

Poetry Everywhere: Teaching Poetry Writing in School and in the Community By Jack Collom & Sheryl Noethe revised second edition 329 pp. Grades: all ages $19.95 paperback The dazzling new edition of this “tremendously valuable resource” (Kliatt) contains 65 writing exercises and more than 400 example poems. It also discusses how to integrate poetry writing into…

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Poetry Comics: An Animated Anthology

Poetry Comics: An Animated Anthology By Dave Morice 117 pp. Grades: all ages $17.95 paperback Dave Morice’s Poetry Comics offers literary mavens and students alike a look at the canon in a new and hilarious light. This anthology brings together such classics as Shakespeare’s sonnets, Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass,” and Emily Dickinson’s “Poem 303” with…

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Playmaking: Children Writing and Performing Their Own Plays

Playmaking: Children Writing and Performing Their Own Plays By Daniel Judah Sklar 184 pp. Grades: kindergarten, elementary school, middle school, high school $16.95 paperback Playmaking is an award-winning, step-by-step account of teaching children to write, direct, and perform their own plays—as staged readings, videotapes, radio plays, and full stage productions. An exciting guide for cultivating the…

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Personal Fiction Writing: A Guide to Writing from Real Life for Teachers, Students, & Writers

Personal Fiction Writing: A Guide to Writing from Real Life for Teachers, Students, & Writers By Meredith Sue Willis revised second edition 248 pp. Grades: all ages $18.95 paperback Personal Fiction Writing treats the writing of fiction as a natural process that anyone can do with pleasure. The book includes more than 400 writing assignments based…

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Our Difficult Sunlight: A Guide to Poetry, Literacy, Social Justice in Classroom & Community

Our Difficult Sunlight: A Guide to Poetry, Literacy, Social Justice in Classroom & Community by Georgia A. Popoff and Quraysh Ali Lansana Grades: all ages $19.95 paperback Our Difficult Sunlight: A Guide to Poetry, Literacy, & Social Justice in Classroom & Community was nominated for the 2012 NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Work-Instructional.…

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Making Theater: Developing Plays with Young People

Making Theater: Developing Plays with Young People By Herbert Kohl 131 pp. Grades: elementary school, middle school $14.95 paperback Herbert Kohl invites teachers to explore improvisation and dramatic dialogues with their students and provides strategies for transforming young writers into playwrights. He also offers methods for adapting great works of literature into classroom performances. “[Kohl] writes…

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Luna, Luna: Creative Writing Ideas from Spanish, Latin American, and Latino Literature

Luna, Luna: Creative Writing Ideas from Spanish, Latin American, and Latino Literature Edited by Julio Marzán 248 pp. Grades: all ages $17.95 paperback In these 21 lively essays, teachers and writers tell how they have used Spanish, Latin American, and Latino literature to inspire their students to create their own poems and stories. The literary models…

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