change, challenge, and opportunity: teachers' professional

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page 444 Language Arts, Volume 92, Number 6, July 2015 T he professional texts reviewed here remind us of the many things teachers care about; they remind us of the complexity of teach- ing and learning and the possibilities that exist for teachers as change agents. Fullan and Hargreaves (1996) contend that education is not only about student learning and progress, but it is also about the continual growth of teacher expertise and the improvement of the system at large. Change and growth are integral elements of the profession that oftentimes place increased demands on the profes- sional lives of teachers. In the past decade, many significant changes in the field have occurred, and this trend of change will likely continue. Even with this influx of change, as always, teachers will con- tinue to focus on the issues that are at the heart of their work. Teachers’ professional concerns include multiple issues: how to manage increased curricu- lar responsibilities; how to approach technology in ways that will provide authentic learning and engagement for all students; how to deal with the struggles of poverty and ideology and the impact on teachers, students, and reading education; how to help children become proficient learners and critical thinkers across the curriculum; how to help children become proficient writers of fiction and nonfiction texts. These professional concerns represent only a fraction of the multitude of issues teachers face in their daily lives. With these concerns come both challenges and opportunities that provide the impe- tus for teachers’ professional growth and change. We invite you to explore these resources and to reflect on the future directions of education and the tireless work of teachers everywhere. (VAO) Reference Fullan, M., & Hargreaves, A. (1996). What’s worth fighting for in your school? New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Learning for Real: Teaching Content and Literacy across the Curriculum by Heidi Mills, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2014, 160 pp., ISBN 978-0-325- 04603-7 Heidi Mills and Tim O’ Keefe received the 2014 Outstanding Educator in Language Arts Award from the National Council of Teachers of English, and Mills’ new book, Learning for Real: Teaching Content and Literacy across the Curriculum is a testament to why. We live in a time where informational texts, close reading, content area literacy, and Common Core State Standards seem to be on every new book title, the impetus of professional development offerings, and the theme of educational conferences; yet, too often, the skills, strategies, and offerings from these resources limit the generative nature of learning, the principles and practices of genuine inquiry, and the role they play in leading literate lives. But, that is not the case in this book. No, Heidi Mills has given the profession a gift with her most recent work that invites readers into classrooms at the Center for Inquiry (CFI), a K-5 public magnet school located in Columbia, South Carolina. Professional Book Reviews Change, Challenge, and Opportunity: Teachers’ Professional Concerns Diane DeFord, Jennipher Frazier, Janie Goodman, Tasha Laman, Victoria A. Oglan, Catherine Sanderson, Dywanna Smith, Paige Steele, Diane Stephens, Jennifer Stowe, Michelle Vanderburg, Yang Wang, and Melissa Wells

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Language Arts, Volume 92, Number 6, July 2015

The professional texts reviewed here remind us of the many things teachers care about; they remind us of the complexity of teach-

ing and learning and the possibilities that exist for teachers as change agents. Fullan and Hargreaves (1996) contend that education is not only about student learning and progress, but it is also about the continual growth of teacher expertise and the improvement of the system at large. Change and growth are integral elements of the profession that oftentimes place increased demands on the profes-sional lives of teachers. In the past decade, many signifi cant changes in the fi eld have occurred, and this trend of change will likely continue. Even with this infl ux of change, as always, teachers will con-tinue to focus on the issues that are at the heart of their work. Teachers’ professional concerns include multiple issues: how to manage increased curricu-lar responsibilities; how to approach technology in ways that will provide authentic learning and engagement for all students; how to deal with the struggles of poverty and ideology and the impact on teachers, students, and reading education; how to help children become profi cient learners and critical thinkers across the curriculum; how to help children become profi cient writers of fi ction and nonfi ction texts. These professional concerns represent only a fraction of the multitude of issues teachers face in their daily lives. With these concerns come both challenges and opportunities that provide the impe-tus for teachers’ professional growth and change. We invite you to explore these resources and to refl ect on the future directions of education and the tireless work of teachers everywhere. (VAO)

referenceFullan, M., & Hargreaves, A. (1996). What’s worth fi ghting

for in your school? New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Learning for Real: Teaching Content and Literacy across the Curriculumby Heidi Mills, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2014, 160 pp., ISBN 978- 0- 325- 04603- 7

Heidi Mills and Tim O’ Keefe received the

2014 Outstanding Educator in Language Arts Award from the National Council of Teachers of English, and Mills’ new book, Learning for Real: Teaching Content and Literacy across the Curriculum is a testament to why. We live in a time where informational texts, close reading, content area literacy, and Common Core State Standards seem to be on every new book title, the impetus of professional development offerings, and the theme of educational conferences; yet, too often, the skills, strategies, and offerings from these resources limit the generative nature of learning, the principles and practices of genuine inquiry, and the role they play in leading literate lives. But, that is not the case in this book. No, Heidi Mills has given the profession a gift with her most recent work that invites readers into classrooms at the Center for Inquiry (CFI), a K- 5 public magnet school located in Columbia, South Carolina.

Professional Book Reviews

Change, Challenge, and opportunity: Teachers’ Professional ConcernsDiane DeFord, Jennipher Frazier, Janie Goodman, Tasha Laman, Victoria A. Oglan, Catherine Sanderson, Dywanna Smith, Paige Steele, Diane Stephens, Jennifer Stowe, Michelle Vanderburg, Yang Wang, and Melissa Wells

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What Heidi Mills does that feels too rare these days is trust that teachers will understand the ideas that she is sharing, that we all live in the world as inquirers— whether we are learning how to tango, baking bread for the first time, or studying a new language. This reminder is early in the book: “When we are invested in our personal inquiries, we lead passionate, wide- awake lives” (p. xix). Mills reminds us “True teaching is learning” (p. xx) and acknowledges that living in the busy world that we do and the narrowing scope of curriculum mandates are real challenges that teachers face. She invites us as readers to take what she and her colleagues at CFI enact and make them our own.

In Learning for Real, Mills disrupts the notion that children are learning to read in the early grades and reading to learn in later grades. She makes clear how children in early childhood can read to learn. Young children develop the practices and habits of minds of scientists and mathematicians and social scientists. The skills and processes of inquiry that they learn by reading and learning about birds, caterpillars, and planets are no different than those of ornithologists, entomologists, and astronomers. Underlying all teaching practices and goals at CFI is the mandate to help children become self- directed inquirers who wonder and ask questions about the world and about themselves.

Mills does not just present us with theories of inquiry; she invites us into classrooms to explore units of study, from planning to implementation, and highlights the universal processes of inquiry across classrooms. These processes include carefully observing the world, posing questions and solving problems from numerous perspectives, and accessing primary and secondary sources in complementary ways. Students accomplish this using the language of inquiry and disciplines to learn and communicate new understandings as they also use reflection and self- evaluation to grow and change (p. xxiv). The book includes photographs from classrooms, transcripts of teacher and student talk, student work samples, and teacher planning sheets, which highlight teachers’ beliefs and

practices that inform the curricular invitations and content they plan with and for their young learners.

For those readers who have not visited CFI or for readers who think to themselves, “I have no idea what this kind of teaching or classroom looks or sounds like,” Mills has included links to the Heinemann website where video clips bring this gorgeous book to life. We eavesdrop as children share their moon journals in Susan Bolte’s classroom, we watch as children in Tim O’Keefe’s second grade participate in exploration time first thing in the morning (you might catch Tim working with a group putting together a skeleton of a dead bat!), and we marvel as third graders share their processes for writing a class song about Rosa Parks. This comprehensive book includes examples from all content areas— reading, writing, science, social studies, and math. It also shows us inquiry across K– 5 classrooms, helping us see so many possibilities for our curriculum: the need to take a critical stance by questioning texts, explore ideas from multiple perspectives, and take action to make the world a better place. That action takes many forms, such as when Chris Hass’s students explored “Normalcy,” when Tim O’ Keefe’s students wrote to an editor to accurately present historical facts, or when Tameka Breland’s students did a study about immigration. As I read this book, I jotted in the margins ideas for my own teaching, highlighted brilliant insights into inquiry, and began to ask myself, “What if?” I think you will, too. (TTL)

Nonfiction Writing Power: Teaching Information Writing with Intent and Purpose by Adrienne Gear, Ontario, Canada: Pembroke Publishers Limited, 2014, 184 pp., ISBN 078- 1- 55138- 293- 7

“We write to invite thinking” (p. 8). In this latest addition to her Reading and Writing Power books, Adrienne Gear focuses on the importance of teaching students to look behind nonfiction writing to determine

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the writer’s intent and purpose for the reader. The author’s sustained focus on helping students of all ages understand “the why- we- write rather than the what- to- write and how- to- write” (p. 8) makes this book an invaluable resource for teachers interested in improving their nonfiction writing instruction.

Gear offers teachers a shift in perspective about writing instruction by positing that students can learn to become better writers if they think about improving their writing skills not for themselves, but for their readers. Throughout this book, Gear consistently makes the connection between writers and readers as she states, “All writers write because they have something they want to share with someone else” (pp. 9– 10). She notes that teachers should share with students how writing’s importance lies in its power to engage and invite readers to think.

Gear then asks teachers to consider if their writing instruction reflects the real- world writing students encounter in their day- to- day lives. She points out that even though most adults report reading and writing more nonfiction than fiction, there appears to be a disconnect between students’ reading and writing experiences in school and those they experience on a day- to- day basis. She notes how children tend to be more familiar with the structure of stories due to the amount of classroom time spent on teaching them to write fiction rather than the structures and language of nonfiction forms. Gear proposes that teachers provide a better balance of overt writing instruction to help students grow in their understanding of the intent, structure, and language associated with each nonfiction form, including description, instruction, persuasion, comparison, explanation, and reporting.

Divided into nine chapters, the design of this text will help teachers develop their own nonfiction writing curricula. Additionally, the text provides specific connections between writing and the content areas of science and social studies. The first three chapters establish the foundation for Gear’s approach to writing instruction by having

teachers explore nonfiction writing features (e.g., intent, structure, language), text structures (e.g., description, instruction, comparison, persuasion, explanation, nonfiction narrative), and anchor books (e.g., nonfiction children’s literature, picturebooks). In Chapter 1, the author reminds teachers that students need extended periods of time to be immersed and engaged in reading and writing a particular nonfiction form. Gear writes, “Teaching these forms of writing takes time, and students need many opportunities to practice them with a wide range of topics” (p. 15). She extends this thinking into Chapter 2 by noting how students grow as writers when teachers maximize time for writing: “Children who see themselves as writers from a very early age will develop confidence and competence in the craft of writing. The simple fact is that the more they write, the better they get” (p. 21). In Chapter 3, Gear advises all teachers to provide writing instruction that fits into a bigger picture. She points out how students must “understand why they are learning something and how it fits into the greater whole” (p. 28).

Chapters 4– 9 provide lessons on each of the six nonfiction text structures chosen by the author. Each chapter includes an overview of the specific form, including a list of anchor books and notes on intent, form, language features, writing techniques, links to content areas, and assessment. Additionally, each chapter includes an example of a whole- class write in which the teacher models the text structure as students participate in the writing process, reiterating Gear’s focus on process, not product. Reproducible writing organizers are included at the end of each chapter.

For teachers looking to offer students a more balanced writing curriculum of fiction and nonfiction, this book provides both a strong theoretical foundation and practical classroom applications. Gear summarizes her text best by writing, “Writing is powerful. Nonfiction writing is essential. One of the ways we can prepare our students for success in the real world is to help them become more proficient and engaging writers” (p. 176). (JRG)

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Creating Critical Classrooms: Reading and Writing with an Edge (2nd ed.). by Mitzi Lewison, Christine Leland, and Jerome C. Harste, New York, NY: Routledge, 2014, 322 pp., ISBN 978- 0- 415- 73773- 9

Lewison, Leland, and Harste discuss critical

literacy theory and present ways to implement critical literacy in the K– 8 classroom. The authors define critical literacy practice as one that encourages questioning the everyday world, specifically the relationship between language and power, the influence of media and culture, and the social construct of power relationships. It should also encourage consideration of action to promote social justice. The authors use critical literacy as the lens through which to analyze classroom lessons. They draw on Freire’s work and use a problem- posing curriculum instead of a problem- solving one. This approach facilitates the goal of teacher– student partnership. This edition includes examples of critical classroom practice in Voices from the Field, new text sets, resources available on the companion website, and more examples from middle school classrooms.

Creating Critical Classrooms is an excellent text to use in courses for preservice and/or inservice teachers or for teacher study groups. Sprinkled in the margins are “Invitations for Disruption,” in which the authors present inquiries in the form of questions for deeper thought, writing prompts, peer discussion, classroom activities, etc. In addition, at the end of each chapter, the authors pose “Lingering Questions” that prompt readers to think of ways to implement these critical literacy ideas in their own schools and classrooms.

This book asks teachers and students to interrogate texts. To model such practices, the text includes numerous middle school examples entitled “Voices from the Field.” By delving into complex and often taboo issues, such as interrogating racial profiling, using popular culture

to define beauty, examining race through children’s literature, creating well- researched activists, and taking social action, the vignettes masterfully illustrate how teachers connect curriculum mastery with real- world activism.

The “Thought Pieces” complete each of the nine chapters. They are related to the themes of each chapter: Keeping Your Head in These Political Times; Uncertainty and the Teaching of Reading and Writing; Visual Literacy; Risky Texts; Teacher Talk; Understanding Reading– Multiple Perspectives, Multiple Insights; Racism and Privilege; School Posters; and Common Core. The nine essays urge us to reflect and question our teaching and learning.

The companion website at www.routledge .com/cw/lewison provides readers with materials mentioned in the book. This site features Annotations, Text Sets, Chapter Resources, Invitations for Students, and Literacy Strategies. The “Invitations for Students” resource examines specific social issues, such as consumerism or bullying, and provides in- depth descriptions of how to tackle such intricate and sensitive issues. Each invitation is divided into several user- friendly sections, including rationale, materials, step- by- step instructional directions, extension activities, and suggestions for moving from the classroom to the community.

By weaving together theory, classroom practice, and pedagogy with a well- designed website and myriad resources, Creating Critical Classrooms is a must- have for all educators advocating for change. (MV, YW, DS, PS)

Technology & Critical Literacy in Early Childhood by Vivian Maria Vasquez and Carol Branigan Felderman, New York, NY: Routledge, 2012, 128 pp., ISBN 978- 0- 415- 53950- 0

In scope, Technology and Critical Literacy in Early Childhood highlights the work of preservice

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and inservice teachers, as well as teacher leaders in settings such as learning cooperatives, public schools, and private schools in Washington DC, North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Ontario, Canada. Written for preservice and classroom teachers and teacher educators, this text explores the integration of literacy, social studies, and science with new forms of communication in early childhood settings (ages 3– 8). It provides clear examples of how professional standards and sound classroom practices work together to enrich the lives of young children. This well- written and accessible text also offers ways to enact social justice themes that position children as highly engaged, critical literacy users. The authors embed “Reflection Points,” invitations to “Try This,” and resource boxes to help readers move beyond the text into their personal classroom spaces.

The first chapter, “Setting a Context for Exploring Critical Literacies Using Technology,” and last chapter, “Desires, Identities, and New Communication Technologies,” set up the theoretical underpinnings of critical literacies and how new communications impact children’s literacy development and identities. These chapters provide clear rationales and guidelines so teachers can implement highly effective curricula. Each chapter provides examples of lessons, teacher and student interactions, and results obtained when children are immersed in such classrooms.

Chapter 2, “Teaching and Learning with Voice Thread,” and Chapter 3, “Yes We Can!: Using Technology as a Tool for Social Action,” illustrate the use of VoiceThread in a variety of classrooms. In a first- grade charter school classroom, children discussed and wrote about social justice issues. Small groups researched issues people face in different countries. One group met Lubo, an African man who was rescued as a child from a refugee camp and relocated to North Carolina. As an adult, he dreamed of helping other children like himself. This group used VoiceThread to talk with refugees in Africa and inform others about their project. These projects helped them study life in different countries and be advocates to change unfair issues children can face. In other Pre- K– first- grade classrooms,

children explored their classrooms and communities using technology in social studies and science. One Pre- K class studied water and pollution and helped others save on energy; another class learned about endangered animals and the rainforest; yet another first- grade class studied the weather and produced weather forecasts for their school. Across these contexts, students used information gained to develop technology and communication skills, thus bettering their own lives and the lives of others in their schools and communities.

Chapter 4, “Our Families Don’t Understand English!” and Chapter 5, “What about Antarctica?” describe second- grade podcasts that address issues of diversity, difference, language, and power. Most of these students from seven different countries participated in free or reduced- free lunch programs, so these issues were of personal import. A touching story of Subrina, a Latina student from Guatemala, illustrates how podcasts foster growth in oral and written communication. Subrina thought their podcasts should not just be in English, but in languages their families could understand. In creating podcasts in different languages, the children developed an awareness of audience as well as “views of access, domination, diversity, and privilege” (p. 45), and Subrina made tremendous progress. Another class was introduced to ClustrMaps that show the number of visitors to particular podcast sites. As the students examined a map, one student noted a continent devoid of subscribers. As they learned why, they asked, “Who is left out and, therefore, who is disadvantaged?” (p. 56). Through inquiry, the children learned that when voices are ignored, people become disadvantaged. The study of ClustrMaps shows that maps, like other forms of literacy, are created from particular viewpoints and result “in the inclusion of some things and the exclusion of other things” (p. 59). Students learn that what is excluded is equally as important as what is included.

Chapter 6, “The Tomato Trials,” and Chapter 7, “Picture This: Using Photography as a Tool for Critical Literacy,” focus on students as critical consumers in kindergarten and second grades. The

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kindergarteners viewed commercials and websites for three methods of growing tomatoes to analyze the power of images and particular marketing words. They created word clouds with Tagxedo from these websites and then critiqued the bigger, boldfaced, and most frequently occurring words. The second graders looked at images from different sources and used photography to talk about positioning, identity, and perspective. With disposable cameras and a list of images to capture, they planned their own photographs in writer’s notebooks before taking pictures. Using the photographs, students analyzed the perspectives in their photos and then composed poetry based on their photographs.

Finally, the authors make practical connections in “Reflection Points” (in which the authors reflect on what they did and what to change for more effective learning) and “Resource Boxes” (in which the authors provide possibilities for additional uses and extensions of technology). These text boxes position readers as innovators, able to use these insights and build upon them to create engaging instructional opportunities relevant to their individual learners. In a context where educators often feel constrained by standards, even in early childhood, this text is a powerful reminder that genuine, meaningful inquiry should drive instruction, and the standards will be met by following children into these spaces of learning. By showing the impressive, critical work completed in these projects, this book empowers early childhood students and their teachers. (DD, MW, CAS, JF)

Reading Poverty in Americaby Patrick Shannon, New York, NY: Routledge, 2014, 154 pp., ISBN 978- 0- 415- 72273- 5

In the United States, 2.8 million children are members of 1.46 million families who live on less than $2 a day. To provide some perspective on that

income, $2 a day is the amount the World Bank used to describe “global poverty.” The World Bank (2013) stated that such poverty is waning around the world, but Shaefer and Edin identified a 130 percent increase in American “global poverty” since 1996 (Shannon, 2013, p. 11).

In the first chapter of the second edition of Reading Poverty, Shannon (2013) uses these and other statistics to document poverty in the United States, which he refers to as a “national disgrace” (p. 1). In the second chapter, he addresses the consequences of poverty: Children of poverty are more likely to experience low birth rate, food insecurity, lack of access to health care, inadequate housing, and “toxic stress.” Prolonged stress, which children of poverty experience daily, disrupts “logical thinking, behavioral control, language comprehension, and reading” (p. 27). In the most straightforward terms, “Hungry, sick, sleepy, and anxious students have fewer opportunities to learn to read at school” (p. ix).

Following this overview, Shannon asserts that everything related to schooling (notions of intelligence, standardized tests, textbooks, etc.) is shaped by beliefs/ideologies. Recognizing, labeling, and understanding these competing ideologies will better position all of us to influence policy, transform our schools, and help children. He organizes Chapters 3 through 6 by ideological groups: liberals, conservatives, neo- liberals, and radical democrats.

Liberals assert that poverty results from a lack of opportunity and believe that the government should help level the playing field. Conservatives see poverty as the product of the moral failing of the poor and believe that education should be used to teach them middle- class values to help them be more successful. Neo- liberals see competition as the “engine” which drives everything, including education. As such, neo- liberals stress that we must overhaul the education system to compete in an increasingly literate and technology- driven world.

The final chapter describes radical democrats, who believe the poor are capable of creating

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their own futures. Radical democrats promote the concept of sociological imagination (Mills, 1959)— the ability to “recognize what is before us and imagine how it might be otherwise” (p. 9). To help the reader understand their position, Shannon provides three examples of radically democratic classrooms. One example demonstrates how Tim O’Keefe uses literature inquiry with his second and third graders to foster discussion about difference, equality, and unity. These discussions help students to develop their sociological imaginations and feelings of agency. Overall, O’Keefe’s methods encourage students to be more than “code- breakers” and “meaning- makers” when they read. They become “text- users” and “text- analyzers,” (Freebody & Luke, 1990): people who can creatively and critically read a variety of different types of texts and who can place themselves in historical contexts and imagine other possibilities.

Shannon concludes: “Reading poverty in America is an urgent need and constant struggle” (p. 121). As teachers, we must give students the tools to improve their own economic status and to participate meaningfully in the processes of democracy. Poverty and competing ideological visions of education, however, often make achieving this mission more difficult. If we are to preserve and renew the American dream, we must address both. As educators and citizens of a democracy, “we face decisions about how we wish to live together and what positions we will assume as those decisions are made” (p. 121). Shannon’s text challenges us to name and examine our own ideologies and to act deliberately in ways that help to eliminate poverty and promote respect for all of the different voices of America. (JVS, DS)

referencesFreebody, P., & Luke, A. (1990). Literacies programs:

Debates and demands in cultural context. Prospect: Australian Journal of TESOL, 5(7), 7– 16.

Mills, C. W. (1959). The sociological imagination. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago.

The Writing Thief: Using Mentor Texts to Teach the Craft of Writingby Ruth Culham, Newark, DE: International Reading Association, 2014, 204 pp., ISBN 978- 0872070998

In K– 12 classrooms across all content areas, there is a renewed interest in writing as a process and as a tool for learning. As a result, teachers are looking for resources that will provide them with guidelines and strategies for teaching the many forms of writing. Ruth Culham offers that support in her book The Writing Thief: Using Mentor Texts to Teach the Craft of Writing.

This book is reader- friendly and easy to navigate. There are five chapters, and teachers can read individual chapters that meet their immediate teaching needs and concerns. In addition, most chapters feature a section of author insights in which celebrated authors share their thoughts about how reading influences their writing. These voices— from such distinguished teachers as Ralph Fletcher, Lester Laminack, Toni Buzzo, Lola Schaefer, David Harrison, Nicola Davis, and Lisa Yee— add a richness to the book that teachers will enjoy.

In Chapter 1, Culham shares some disturbing statistics about the nature of literacy in schools and then goes on to claim the crisis in public education “can be remedied by these two factors: students’ access to great texts, and great teaching” (p. 11). Culham wants teachers to teach children that writing is not easy, can be messy at times, but can also be satisfying. She urges teachers to stop doing things that do not work, such as using worksheets and assigning vocabulary lists, and encourages teachers to focus on the things that do work with writers, such as providing students with choice and evaluating writers based on performance and growth over time.

Chapter 2 encourages teachers to use mentor texts to teach writing, a concept that has been

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around for a time. To do this, teachers need to look at all sorts of texts— print, digital, visual— with an eye for the craft of writing and with the intention to read these texts like a writer. Teachers need to see the possibilities for writing in a variety of mentor texts, including traditional picturebooks, canonical texts, do not disturb signs, menus, websites, and pamphlets. In doing so, teachers will develop a repertoire of mentor texts to help them teach the many forms of writing.

In Chapter 3, Culham adds new insights to informational writing. According to her, this text type does not have to be a boring regurgitation of facts and figures that reads like a textbook, but rather should have voice and energy and read like literature by revealing big ideas. Throughout the book, Culham aligns traits of writing, for which she is best known, with each of the text types. She also offers a list of informational mentor texts that address each of the traits. The list of texts offers a summary of each text and how it can be used with students.

The focus of Chapter 4 is narrative writing. Much has been written about the traits of narrative

writing, but Culham cautions teachers to realize that students do not “have narrative writing down” (p. 128). They need help with more than just informational and argument (opinion) writing; they continue to need exemplary models of narrative writing in an effort to grow their understanding of this text type.

Argument writing is the focus for Chapter 5, and teachers will find this chapter helpful as they wrestle with their concerns about how to approach this text type in their classrooms. Culham reports that students often rely on emotion- driven arguments, but in the age of the Common Core State Standards (National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010) this is not enough. Students need to understand how effective argument techniques develop logic. Again, a collection of mentor texts for argument writing along with a focus on the traits is offered.

This book will inspire teachers to make writing instruction more relevant, rigorous, and accessible to students through mentor texts. (VAO)

diane deford is a professor in Language & Literacy at the University of South Carolina and can be reached at [email protected]. Jennipher frazier is a middle school literacy coach and

doctoral candidate in Language & Literacy at the University of South Carolina and can be reached at [email protected]. Janie riddle goodman is an adjunct professor in Language & Literacy/Middle Level Education at the University of South Carolina and can be reached at [email protected]. Tasha Topp Laman is an associate professor in Early Childhood and Elementary Education at the University of Louisville and can be reached at [email protected]. Victoria A. oglan is

a clinical assistant professor in Language & Literacy/Secondary English Education at the University of South Carolina and can be reached at [email protected]. Catherine A. Sanderson is a board- certified speech- language pathologist in Florence, SC, and a doctoral student in Language & Literacy at the University of South Carolina; she can be reached at [email protected]. dywanna Smith is a middle level/English language arts specialist and a doctoral candidate in Language & Literacy at the

University of South Carolina; she can be reached at [email protected]. Paige Steele is a middle level English teacher and a doctoral candidate in Language & Literacy at the University of South Carolina;

she can be reached at [email protected]. diane Stephens is the Swearingen Chair of Education at the University of South Carolina and can be reached at [email protected]. Jennifer V. Stowe is a

graduate assistant and doctoral student in Language & Literacy at the University of South Carolina and can be reached at [email protected]. michelle Vanderburg is an assistant professor of Literacy Education

at the University of South Carolina Aiken and can be reached at [email protected]. Yang Wang is an assistant professor in Language & Literacy at the University of South Carolina and can be reached

at [email protected]. melissa Wells is an elementary literacy coach and doctoral candidate in Language & Literacy at the University of South Carolina and can be reached at [email protected].

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