The best story is one that comes from the heart. The library is having a contest for the best story, and the quirky narrator of this book just has to win that rollercoaster ride with her favorite author! But what makes a story the best? Her brother Tim says the best stories have lots of action. Her father thinks the best stories are the funniest. And Aunt Jane tells her that the best stories have to make people cry. A story that does all these things doesn't seem quite right, though, and the one thing the whole family can agree on is that the best story has to be your own. Anne Wilsdorf's hilarious illustrations perfectly capture this colorful family and their outrageous stories in Eileen Spinelli's heartfelt tale about creativity and finding your own voice.

You’ve always wanted to write a novel and have been nurturing a great idea. Maybe you’ve read books by writing experts, perhaps even taken a class or two. But as you sit down alone with the blank page, despite all the dreaming, planning and learning—nothing happens. Or if the writing does start to flow, it soon dries up. Why is writing a novel so hard? You’re not uncreative. And the learning and planning you’ve done isn’t suddenly useless! Rather, you’re facing that overwhelming gap between the story you’re imagining and the book you want to write. It’s enough to stop most people from trying at all. But that doesn’t have to be you! In The One Week Writing Workshop, author Karin Adams helps you to overcome the overwhelm. She breaks the writing process down into a series of bite-sized, actionable tasks within a proven seven-step method. It’s the method Karin herself uses, and the one she has taught to thousands of workshop participants since 2010. This is not another book to read before you start your draft—it’s the book you grab when you want to actually start writing your novel. While The One Week Writing Workshop emphasizes taking action now, it also circles back to story essentials as you go. If you’ve read other writing books, it will complement, reinforce and add fresh perspectives to what you’ve learned. If you’ve never studied creative writing before, The One Week Writing Workshop is the perfect book for getting yourself grounded while you get busy writing! Structured as a seven-day workshop, each chapter is a lively session guiding you through energizing tasks that get you working on and actively growing your story. Throughout the book, you have lots of choice so that you can further tailor the experience for you and your novel. You’ll find: · 70+ real-world writing activities and strategies you’ll start using within minutes of opening the book · A tried-and-tested 7-step method for starting your novel and seeing it through to the finish · Hands-on strategies for every step of the writing process, from generating ideas to revision · Helpful mini lessons to get (or keep) you grounded with story writing essentials · A blend of at-your-desk and out-of-the-box actions that help to inspire your entire creative self · Activities you can come back to again and again to bust past blocks, develop new story concepts and reconnect with the joy that got you writing in the first place The One Week Writing Workshop is the book you need when it’s time to take action, start writing your novel and finally see it through to completion.

A professional author shares the keys to success—from first draft to first printing and beyond—in this complete writer’s guide. For more than a decade, author Joan Gelfand has taught writers of all levels and disciplines how to find creative writing success using her unique 4 C’s approach that combines Craft, Commitment, Community and Confidence. In You Can Be a Winning Writer, Gelfand explains the 4 C’s with humor, empathy, and real-life anecdotes from famous, working, and emerging authors. The 4 C’s provide solid tips on mastering your craft, connecting with a literary community, and building your fan base. But the essential component to all of this is confidence. Gelfand knows that a lack of confidence has kept too many writers unpublished for too long. With the help of Renate Stendhal, PhD, Joan defines clear steps to overcoming the lack-of-confidence demon that haunts so many aspiring authors. This literary reference and publishing guide includes: Key authorship and publishing tips Important post-publication strategies Guidance on avoiding common mistakes How to enjoy greater success with the 4 C’s

This volume shares proven strategies for Academic English teaching, research, and development in challenging circumstances. Through original first-hand experiences from around the world, the collection reveals how educators in higher education have responded to the specific needs and challenges of teaching second language learners in turbulent times, as seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. Organised thematically, the book covers rapid responses to crises, adapting to teaching online, collaborations and online learning communities, and assessment practices. The volume provides original insights and practical suggestions for a range of practices across English for Academic and Specific Purposes that can address new and unfamiliar circumstances, both now and in future challenging times. The collection includes a wealth of effective strategies, varied research methodologies, and resources for practice making it an invaluable reference for practitioners, students, and researchers in the field of academic English, ESL/EFL, and online language instruction.

Writing instruction expert Warren Combs presents a step-by-step plan for teaching writing workshops that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The book is filled with practical mini-lessons, strategies, and tools for every stage of the writing process, from prewriting through publication. Scripting is provided, to show teachers how to model each strategy for students. In addition, Dr. Combs shows how teachers can use the following elements: The concepts Voice, Pictures, and Flow, to help students understand the essential elements of writing; The words Invite, Model, Write, Look, and Learn, to model effective writing for students and have them learn from your example; Revision strategies such as Jot and Blend, Combining Sentences, Writing Leads, and Writing Closes; Peer revision using Peer-Assisted Learning Systems (PALS); Student self-assessment rubrics. The book also includes scoring guides and pacing guides, to help teachers implement writing workshops more easily. As Dr. Combs demonstrates, you can give workshops more structure while still making writing come alive for your students.

A comprehensive introduction to middle school teaching, this textbook focuses explicitly on instructional strategies that encourage adolescents to become active participants in their own learning within a world of accountability and standardized testing. The author, an experienced middle school teacher and teacher educator, takes a constructivist approach to teaching that considers the whole child, including the emotional, psychological, social, and cultural variables uniquely associated with adolescence. The text examines the full range of middle school topics, from the development and diversity of middle school learners, to the structures, curriculum, and management of the classroom itself. Special features include: "Empowering Middle School Students to Take Ownership of their Learning," "Teaching Scenario," "Key Points," and "Creating an Anti-Oppressive Atmosphere in Your Classroom" textboxes help teachers gain a clearer understanding of content presented and encourage them to become reflective practitioners. Callouts throughout explicitly link chapter content to NMSA standards. Discussion of the unique challenges of actively engaging bilingual students, special needs students, and students exhibiting antisocial behavior. Accounts about middle school students illustrate the ways adolescents think about school and learning. A chapter that focuses on ways teachers can apply the general teaching strategies to specific subject areas. Sample Lesson Plans, Focus Questions, Chapter Summaries, Journal Entries, and Student Activities/Assignments are included throughout to encourage readers to actively participate with the text.

This volume gathers recent research findings in the field of foreign language (FL) teaching in Romanian higher education dwelling on both methodology and students’ learning outcomes. The book satisfies the need for an up-to-date overview of FL teaching in Romanian universities in the European context as well as from a global international perspective. This book confers visibility to Romanian foreign language scholars’ research and it opens new paths for debate and collaboration worldwide. The scholars included in this volume have extensive expertise in the field of foreign language teaching and research in higher education which is supported by their international recognition as specialists in their specific areas. The contributing authors approach their respective chapters relying on both qualitative and quantitative research. Their experience and conclusions will prove helpful for any foreign language professional working in tertiary education.

While many books have been written about basic literacy, few offer detailed information on how to plan and carry out a community literacy project. Fewer still give guidance in tackling the additional barriers of language, culture, and logistics in developing countries and in treating the local community as an active partner rather than a passive recipient in the literacy process. In Local Literacies: Theory and Practice, Glenys Waters includes these elements and presents a practical guide for developing a literacy program. Beginning with a discussion of the theories of learning and reading, the author provides a detailed description of how to plan and organize a literacy program when the practitioner has little to go on but wit, knowledge, and determination. With approximately one half of the book given to the development of instructional methods and materials in reading, writing, and basic math, Local Literacies will be especially helpful to those doing literacy work in linguistically diverse settings in much of the developing world. The reader will quickly discover that this is a book written by a person who has “been there and done that.” Waters has spent more than twenty years in Australia and Papua New Guinea, both as a practitioner and a consultant in programs of literacy for adults and children. This personal experience, plus a thorough knowledge of the professional literature, makes Local Literacies a “must” for the pioneering literacy worker.

Learn how to make vocabulary instruction more effective by making better use of mini-lessons and word study time to achieve durable learning about words and how they work. In this essential new book, literacy expert Amy Benjamin presents her 4E model (Exposure, Exploration, Engagement, Energy) for teaching vocabulary so that students gain deep understanding, improving their overall language and literacy skills. Benjamin guides you through bringing these 4Es to life in your K-8 reading-writing workshop. -Exposure: Enrich your teacher talk with sophisticated words and phrases to facilitate natural language acquisition and application of new words. -Exploration: Promote consistent vocabulary growth with a multifaceted instructional approach that incorporates etymology, word associations, word families, spelling, and morphology. -Engagement: Build students’ confidence by encouraging meaningful use of new words, both in and out of the classroom. -Energy: Enliven your workshop and increase participation with a variety of word games, puzzles, projects, and cooperative learning activities. Each chapter provides practical examples and scenarios to help you apply the model to your own classroom. The appendices include a variety of strategies for organizing reading-writing workshops, a thorough introduction to academic word lists and their role in vocabulary instruction, and an analysis of forty Latin and Greek word roots for mini-lessons.

Exciting, productive connections with authors, illustrators, and storytellers are at your fingertips with this resource. Unlike other author visit guides, this book goes beyond nuts-and-bolts planning to how to create the best possible encounters between students and authors. Successful visits in real space and in cyberspace are described, giving you specific ideas of the many ways to connect with and create meaningful links between bookpeople and children. Choosing the right guest, guidelines for successful visits, making curriculum connections, using e-mail to connect with bookpeople, live chats in virtual space, taking advantage of ITB and satellite technology, and using such props as realia and curriculum guides are some of the topics covered. Lists of author/illustrator web pages and managed Internet sites for author interaction are included.