Teaching the Neglected R: Rethinking Writing Instruction in Secondary Classrooms

Writing is how students connect the dots in their knowledge. Although many models of effective ways to teach writing exist, both the teaching and practice of writing are increasingly shortchanged throughout the school and college years.

- From The Neglected “R”

The National Commission on Writing

Every writing teacher wants to cut through the curricular clutter and get down to the matter of teaching writing well. At the same time, the rules of what writing is, what it does, and how it's done are changing with each new wrinkle in digital technology. In Teaching The Neglected “R” some of the field's most important teachers and thinkers take on the new realities of writing instruction, offering smart advice and penetrating insight into what good teaching looks like today.

Teaching The Neglected “R” contains the combined wisdom and practice of twenty-four outstanding teachers and researchers, including Nancie Atwell, Jeffrey Wilhelm, Michael Smith, Maureen Barbieri, Jim Burke, Donald Murray, and Kim Stafford. Writing expressly for this volume, they address key topics, helping you re-imagine traditional genres and understand digital ones. They also focus on key constituencies, exploring ways to connect with English language learners, African Americans, and boys. And with chapters from Barry Lane on revision, Sara Kajder on integrating technology, and Tom Romano on multigenre papers, Teaching The Neglected “R” spans and expands the possibilities of writing instruction to offer both inspiration and day-to-day teaching suggestions.

Teaching The Neglected “R” will help you see new ways to increase the prominence of writing in your teaching and remember the real goal of writing instruction - to truly engage students in purposeful writing. No matter what form that writing takes.

Every writing teacher wants to cut through the curricular clutter and get down to the matter of teaching writing well. At the same time, the rules of what writing is, what it does, and how it s done are changing with each new wrinkle in digital technology. In Teaching The Neglected R some of the field s most important teachers and thinkers take on the new realities of writing instruction, offering smart advice and penetrating insight into what good teaching looks like today.

Teaching The Neglected R contains the combined wisdom and practice of twenty-four outstanding teachers and researchers, including Nancie Atwell, Jeffrey Wilhelm, Michael Smith, Maureen Barbieri, Jim Burke, Donald Murray, and Kim Stafford. Writing expressly for this volume, they address key topics, helping you re-imagine traditional genres and understand digital ones. They also focus on key constituencies, exploring ways to connect with English language learners, African Americans, and boys. And with chapters from Barry Lane on revision, Sara Kajder on integrating technology, and Tom Romano on multigenre papers, Teaching The Neglected R spans and expands the possibilities of writing instruction to offer both inspiration and day-to-day teaching suggestions.

Teaching The Neglected R will help you see new ways to increase the prominence of writing in your teaching and remember the real goal of writing instruction to truly engage students in purposeful writing. No matter what form that writing takes.

Thomas Newkirks most recent books with Heinemann are Holding Onto Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones (2009) and Teaching the Neglected "R" (2007, coedited with Richard Kent). His Misreading Masculinity (2004) was cited by Instructor Magazine as one of the most significant books for teachers in the past decade. A former teacher of at-risk high school students in Boston, Tom is Professor of English at the University of New Hampshire, the former director of its freshman English program, and the director and founder of its New Hampshire Literacy Institutes. He has studied literacy learning at a variety of educational levels-from preschool to college. His other Heinemann and Boynton/Cook titles include the NCTE David H. Russell Award winning Performance of Self in Student Writing (Boynton/Cook, 1997), Taking Stock: The Writing Process Movement in the 90s (Boynton/Cook, 1994, coedited with Lad Tobin), and Nuts & Bolts: A Practical Guide to Teaching College Composition (Boynton/Cook, 1993). In addition, Tom is coeditor (with Lisa Miller) of The Essential Don Murray, which gathers the most important insights about writing and teaching writing from "America's Greatest Writing Teacher." Thomas Newkirk has been named the 2010 recipient of the Gary Lindberg Award for his outstanding contributions as a faculty member of the University of New Hampshire. Read the Award Announcement

Richard Kent coedited the Heinemann title Teaching the Neglected "R" (2007, with Thomas Newkirk) and authored Beyond Room 109 (2000) and Room 109 (1997). He is the director of the Maine Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project, and an assistant professor of literacy at The University of Maine. Along with his books on writing, portfolios, and independent-study projects for secondary students, Rich has written A Guide to Creating Student-Staffed Writing Centers, 6 - 12 (2006).