Writing: Teachers & Children at Work

by Donald Graves

Writing has become the basic text in the movement that established writing as a central part of literacy education and gave impetus to the whole language approach in classrooms.

Genres: Teaching, Education, Writing

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 14, 1983

Reviews

[BookChampions · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always had mad respect and admiration for Donald Graves. He's probably had more impact on the English teaching profession than just about anyone. I even got to hear him speak at NCTE so many years ago, and it's a talk I still remember to this day. But I haven't read any of his books cover to cover. I felt his books leaned more to elementary teachers and didn't have as much to teach me about the challenges of high school teaching. Or perhaps they would be dated.

But no. This text, published in 1983, still feels fresh as maybe not AS radical as it did then, but it still is nudging me to a radical place even today. And he proves how similar a 6 year old writer is to the 16 year old I work with.

If you have any interest in learning how to make Writing Workshop work, at any level, this is an excellent book to add to your to-read list. About half the book focuses on conferencing worth young people, and for these insights most of all, I'm a true Graves believer.

What most impresses me about Graves is how much you can tell he loves and respects young people. What a gift he was to our profession!

I'd even recommend this one to homeschool parents. It's encouraging and accessible.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent source book for all aspects of writing instruction.

[Nicholas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Donald Graves explores the different aspects of writers workshop chapter by chapter in this book. What I love about it is that instead of giving the reader a recipe, he illustrates each idea through the example of different teachers’ classrooms. What this shows you is that writer’s workshop is not one thing. It is a concept that is played out differently in each classroom where it is enacted. This book celebrates that diversity while helping us to think through how we might enact each aspect of writer’s workshop in our classrooms. Graves has written many other excellent books on the teaching of writing as well.