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"This book is an instructive call to action for all of us who need to be reminded of what hope enacted as classroom practice can look like." -Cornelius Minor
Every classroom is shaped by the skills, languages, social and cultural identities, perspectives, and passions of the children within it. When you approach writing instruction with a deep understanding of children in your classroom, everything else-assessment, planning, differentiated instruction, mentor and shared texts-begins to fall into place. And you can teach writing with inclusion, equity, and agency at the forefront.
Authors Melanie Meehan and Kelsey Sorum show you how to adapt curriculum to meet the needs of the whole child. Each chapter offers intentional steps for responsive instruction across four domains: academic, linguistic, cultural, and social-emotional. Features include:
- Inspiration, classroom examples, and scaffolded tips for creating individualized resources
- Customizable information-gathering and planning tools, classroom charts, and writing samples
- Space for making notes and working through ideas
- Links to online content, including printable templates
List of contents
Foreword by Cornelius Minor
Letter from the Authors
Introduction
A Shared Story
The Four Domains of Responsiveness
The Structure of This Book
Chapter 1: Collecting Information About the Writers in Your Classroom
Chapter 2: Planning Responsive Instruction
Chapter 3: Co-Constructing Responsive Charts
Chapter 4: Selecting Responsive Mentor Texts
Chapter 5: Providing Responsive Demonstration Texts
Chapter 6: Empowering Students to Make Their Own Tools and Resources
References
About the author
Having begun her teaching career as a special education teacher, Melanie has been the Elementary Writing and Social Studies Coordinator in Simsbury, Connecticut since 2012, and her passion for writing has led to several books and publications.
Melanie’s first book, Every Child Can Write, was published by Corwin Press in October 2019. With a foundational belief that all students can learn to write, this book provides strategies and resources that teachers can use, duplicate, and gather inspiration from. The Responsive Writing Teacher, co-written with Kelsey Sorum, was published in February 2021 and emphasizes the importance of knowing and understanding students across many platforms in order to teach them powerfully. Melanie’s most recent book, Answers to Your Biggest Questions About Teaching Elementary Writing, is part of Corwin Press’s Five to Thrive Series.
Melanie is also a co-author of Two Writing Teachers, a blog dedicated to the teaching of writing. Additionally, she co-hosts the companion podcast. Melanie’s past conference presentations and additional blogs and articles can be found here.
Melanie holds a BA from Cornell University, an MA in Special Education from the University of Hartford, and a second MA in Educational Leadership from Central Connecticut State University. Melanie also has her Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing through the Solstice MFA Program of Pine Manor College.
Kelsey Sorum spends each day co-constructing joyful, integrated literacy experiences alongside nearly thirty kindergartners at a progressive public school in the Brooklyn neighborhood where she lives. Kelsey teaches in a classroom that uses the Integrated Co-Teaching model. Kelsey has shared personal and professional writing on blogs for three years. This is her first published book. Kelsey’s work is featured in Kids First From Day 1, by Christine Hertz and Kristine Mraz, and Welcome to Writing Workshop, by Lynne Dorfman and Stacey Shubitz. Kelsey presents at local and national literacy conferences as an advocate for early childhood education.
