Inside Out: Developmental Strategies for Teaching Writing

by Dan Kirby, Tom Liner

This second edition of a widely used teacher text about helping junior and senior high school students learn to write brings to the fore many of the refinements about writing processes. In the preface, Dan Kirby comments on the widespread use of the word "process" by schools and publishers whose practices belie its intended meaning. In contrast, he points out how important it is to understand clearly what goes on in learning to write. He admits that the second edition of Inside Out may have lost some of the winsome innocence of its parent, but that the authors have all learned and grown and changed since it was originally published. Most of that growth is the result of continued work with young writers. Their questions have changed and their uncertainties have become more complex. So in the second edition, the authors have decided to talk back to themselves, to leave many things unchanged and to argue with themselves about other things. The result is a more compelling, more searching book than the original. The authors have asked a high school teacher, Ruth Vinz, to join the discussion as "participant-observer, reality checker, and super teacher." She adds refreshing insights and verification that what Kirby and Liner have been saying all along is what needs saying if we are to improve language teaching and learning in the schools.

Genres: Teaching, Education

241 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I generally dislike most of the education texts I've been forced to read over the last five years as they seldom have anything to do with actually teaching in a real classroom. This book had some good strategies in it, and that's all I ask out of an ed-book - don't be a complete waste of time.

[Leanne Schwartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful strategies adaptable for almost any class or classroom.