Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing 1st Edition

Write Beside Them is written with voice, humor, and humility. Penny Kittle does not tell us she has the perfect class with the perfect student. She tells us how to stick with what we believe to help our students achieve their fullest potential.I teach third grade (self-contained) and still gained so much insight into writing workshop with a constructivist approach by reading Penny's book.The dvd is phenomenal! It has her first day of class, her conferring with students, student work . . .I think writing teachers of grades 3 and up can gain from this book although it is geared to high school English teachers.Penny also refers to the work of other great writing teachers - Don Murray, Don Graves, Tom Romano, Tom Newkirk, Linda Reif, Nancy Atwell; it helps to have all these resources that readers can turn to for more information.

This book has completely pumped me up for teaching writing next year! So many books are out there with great information, but I found Penny's to be the best fit for me. I think it is because she is a lot like me in her teaching style and beliefs. I LOVED that I was able to see her in action with her students and see how her first day of the workshop goes. So many of the great books on Writing Workshops out there are geared to the elementary school level and not to middle and high school and Penny has done an amazing job at showing how her Writing Workshop works in her classroom. This book will definitely be referenced many times over the coming years.Thank you Penny for such a great resource!

I actually bought this book because of another writing instruction book I read -- "Write Like This" by Kelly Gallagher, which was also awesome. I am only half way through this book and I am really inspired to shift my view as to my purpose as a writing teacher. Kittle reminded my why I love to write. Over the years, I have become so obsessed with teaching academia to my middle schoolers, that I seem to have lost place of why we even communicate in the first place.I understand that this book is directed at high school age kids (she mostly discusses her HS seniors), and I have junior high school kids, but everything she discusses is totally applicable to them.

I had this book assigned for a college course I was taking last semester, I am studying to be a high school English teacher, and I cannot wait to go back and re-read it over the summer before I do my student teaching! Each chapter made me think about writing completely differently, and the provided DVD showed how Kittle actually runs her class and the students' reactions. I cannot begin to explain how much this book has helped me already, and I will continue to return to its wealth of knowledge as I try to help my future students with their writing!

I bought this book for a graduate writing class I was taking, and it has had a very positive impact on the way I teach writing to my students. Kittle offers great practical advice that you can take and apply directly to your classroom. Using ideas from the book, I was able to develop an entire creative writing curriculum, the first one ever offered at our school. The students loved it, and really enjoyed journaling, writing stories, conferencing, and putting together a portfolio at the end. One of the most helpful books I read in graduate school.

This is the best book for how to teach writing. I am using it in my Approaches to Teaching English, and the students love it. This is the first time I have ever taught a class where the students absolutely love the book. The book also allows you to go on line and watch videos of Penny teaching and having conferences. I HIGHLY recommend this book

This was a required text for the Master's in Reading at Saint Joseph's University, and was by far the most useful to me as a high school teacher working with low level students. Ms. Kittle really understood the plight of the high school teacher in regards to how much reading readiness is focused on the lower grades. This is a text that should be used in all secondary education programs.

I was excited about this book. It's expensive, but I thought it'd be worth it since it was coming from such a celebrated teacher. I thought there'd be a mix of both the emotional support needed to teach writing and the mechanics, but it's only how to be emotionally supportive. It's literally the same two or three pieces of advice over and over and over again. It's super frustrating. We get it. Write with them. A total disappointment.