Humanity and warmth. They are the cornerstones of quality nonfiction writing - even in genres more informational than intimate. With "Finding the Heart of Nonfiction," Georgia Heard demonstrates how with mentor texts you can help students create inviting nonfiction.

Learn all about the incredible things your heart, lungs, arteries, and circulatory system do and how to keep them healthy and strong! With vibrant images and informational text in conjunction with supportive diagrams and stimulating facts, readers are introduced to basic biology and vocabulary.

Grade level: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, p, e, i, s, t.

In A Place for Wonder, Georgia Heard and Jennifer McDonough discuss how to create "a landscape of wonder," a primary classroom where curiosity, creativity, and exploration are encouraged. For it is these characteristics, the authors write, that develop intelligent, inquiring, life-long learners. The authors' research shows that many primary grade state standards encourage teaching for understanding, critical thinking, creativity, and question asking, and promote the development of children who have the attributes of inventiveness, curiosity, engagement, imagination, and creativity. With these goals in mind, Georgia and Jennifer provide teachers with numerous, practical ways--setting up "wonder centers," gathering data though senses, teaching nonfiction craft--they can create a classroom environment where student's questions and observations are part of daily work. They also present a step-by-step guide to planning a nonfiction reading and writing unit of study--creating a nonfiction book, which includes creating a table of contents, writing focused chapters, using "wow" words, and developing point of view. A Place for Wonder will help teachers reclaim their classrooms as a place where true learning is the norm.

Writing nonfiction represents a big step for most students. Most young writers are not intimidated by personal narrative, fiction, or even poetry, but when they try to put together a "teaching book," report, or persuasive essay, they often feel anxious and frustrated. JoAnn Portalupi and Ralph Fletcher believe that young nonfiction writers supply plenty of passion, keen interest, and wonder. Teachers can provide concrete strategies to help students scaffold their ideas as they write in his challenging genre. Like the authors' best-selling Craft Lessons: Teaching Writing K-8, this book is divided into sections for K-2, 3-4, and middle school (grades 5-8) students. These divisions reflect various differences between emerging, competent, and fluent writers. In each section you'll find a generous collection of craft lessons directed at the genre that's most appropriate for that particular age. In the K-2 section, for example, a number of craft lessons focus on the all-about or concept book. In the 3-4 section there are several lessons on biography. In the 5-8 section a series of lessons addresses expository writing. Throughout the book each of the 80 lessons is presented on a single page in an easy-to-read format. Every lesson features three teaching guidelines: Discussion--A brief look at the reasons for teaching the particular element of craft specifically in a nonfiction context.How to Teach It--Concrete language showing exactly how a teacher might bring this craft element to students in writing conferences or a small-group setting.Resource Material--Specific book or text referred to in the craft lesson including trade books, or a piece of student writing in the Appendixes. This book will help students breathe voice into lifeless "dump-truck" writing and improve their nonfiction writing by making it clearer, more authoritative, and more organized. Nonfiction Craft Lessons gives teachers a wealth of practical strategies to help students grow into strong writers as they explore and explain the world around them. Be sure to look at the When Students Write videotapes too.

Step Into Wonder Has your breath ever caught at the sight of a sunset? Have you ever stopped in your tracks to listen to a birdsong? When was the last time you stood in awe of the world around you? If it’s been so long you can’t remember, living life at a sprint might be leaving you nature blind. If you’re feeling stressed, disconnected from God, and disenchanted with life, this book will help you find solace for your scattered soul. Through storytelling, practical application, and reflective questions, Laurie Kehler invites you on a journey of discovery to… escape the crazy and reset your spiritual compass to explore pathways of peace seek connections with nature and others—starting in your own backyard recognize God’s work in creation and in your life as you live in expectation of his promises Are you ready to set out on a new kind of adventure? Consider this your trail guide for uncovering God’s signposts in the world and revealing his fingerprints on your life.

Sixteen literary luminaries on the controversial subject of being childless by choice, in this critically acclaimed, bestselling anthology One of the most provocative and talked-about books of the year, Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed is the stunning collection exploring one of society’s most vexing taboos. One of the main topics of cultural conversation during the last decade was the supposed “fertility crisis,” and whether modern women could figure out a way to have it all—a successful career and the required 2.3 children—before their biological clocks stopped ticking. Now, however, the conversation has turned to whether it’s necessary to have it all (see Anne-Marie Slaughter) or, perhaps more controversial, whether children are really a requirement for a fulfilling life. In this exciting and controversial collection of essays, curated by writer Meghan Daum, thirteen acclaimed female writers explain why they have chosen to eschew motherhood. Contributors include Lionel Shriver, Sigrid Nunez, Kate Christensen, Elliott Holt, Geoff Dyer, and Tim Kreider, among others, who will give a unique perspective on the overwhelming cultural pressure of parenthood. This collection makes a smart and passionate case for why parenthood is not the only path to a happy, productive life, and takes our parent-centric, kid-fixated, baby-bump-patrolling culture to task in the process. In this book, that shadowy faction known as the childless-by-choice comes out into the light.

Let's-read-and-find-out about Your Heart Night and day, whether you're asleep or awake, your heart is always beating. Read and find out how your heart works and how to keep it healthy.

Jack Hart, master writing coach and former managing editor of the Oregonian, has guided several Pulitzer Prize–winning narratives to publication. Since its publication in 2011, his book Storycraft has become the definitive guide to crafting narrative nonfiction. This is the book to read to learn the art of storytelling as embodied in the work of writers such as David Grann, Mary Roach, Tracy Kidder, and John McPhee. In this new edition, Hart has expanded the book’s range to delve into podcasting and has incorporated new insights from recent research into storytelling and the brain. He has also added dozens of new examples that illustrate effective narrative nonfiction. This edition of Storycraft is also paired with Wordcraft, a new incarnation of Hart’s earlier book A Writer’s Coach, now also available from Chicago.