Full Description

Helping students put words on a page can be hard enough. “I don’t have anything to write about!” they say. And when writing does happen, how do you help them develop these ideas into more effective pieces?

A powerful tool to jumpstart writing

In The Quickwrite Handbook, master teacher Linda Rief shares 100 compelling mentor texts and shows how to use each one as a powerful tool for sparking successful writing. Each mentor text includes “Try this” suggestions for inviting students to get started. You’ll also find “Interludes” woven throughout: examples of quickwrites that students crafted into more fully developed pieces.

These mentor texts are curated in four categories:

• Seeing Inward: How do students view themselves?
• Leaning Outward: What do students consider when they step outside of themselves?
• Beyond Self: What do students notice and wonder about the world at large?
• Looking Back: How does reflection help students grow into more articulate, thoughtful citizens of the world?

Quickwrites go beyond writing prompts

The pages of this book champion Linda’s wise words: “Quickwrites—writing to find writing—are a powerful teaching tool that help students find ideas, discover their voices, and build their confidence as they discover they have important things to say.”

Quickwrites are more than a set of formulaic prompts. They are opportunities for students to use another writer’s words to stimulate their thinking and—through writing themselves—to discover a voice they didn’t know they had.

Additional Resource Information

(click any section below to continue reading)

Podcast

Contents

A Note to Teachers

Introduction

Seeing Inward

Leaning Outward

Beyond Self

Looking Back

​​Afterword

Appendix

Resources

 

(A complete list of mentor texts is available in the sample.)

Samples

• Sample Chapter

Reviews

“This book will move your writing, your student writers, and your teaching to new places.”

—Sara K. Ahmed, author of Being the Change and coauthor of Upstanders

“Linda Rief models the essential moves a teacher must make to increase engagement and joy in writing in The Quickwrite Handbook. You simply must have this book.”

—Penny Kittle, English teacher, coauthor of 180 Days and author of Book Love

“In this valuable resource, Linda Rief shares the models from literature that inspire her students and exactly how she uses them. The mentor texts in this book are jumping-off places. They build vision for what strong writing looks and feels and tastes like. They provide the necessary scaffolding that will allow young writers to outgrow themselves and create something they (and we) can be proud of.”

—Ralph Fletcher, author of Joy Write and coauthor of Writing Workshop

Related PD Services

Speakers

• Invite Linda Rief, Consulting Author to speak at your school, district, or conference through Heinemann Speakers.

Email planningservices@heinemann.com if you would like to contact Linda Rief directly about professional development support.