Writing Powerbook is a pioneer experience in teaching writing. This series develops children’s writing skills through focused and selected writing in a writer’s workshop format. Activities focus on developing writing strategies and skills in an on-going learning- practice-reflection process. Children becoming familiar with the stages of the writing process, working on several drafts before they share their writing with peers inside the classroom, and with other people outside the classroom. The series now consists of five books.
About the Writing Powerbook Series
The Writing Powerbook series is a pioneer experience in teaching writing. The Writing Powerbook series stresses writing at the textual level; the material ensures learner-autonomy by providing the right learning tools and opportunities for reflection, self-development and improvement.
Goals:
- See writing as a way to tell about things
- Write fluently
- Learn to read through writing. “One way children learn to read is by writing. For
struggling children, their own writing is sometimes the first thing they can read.”
(Graves, 1995; Routman, 1995; Calkins, 1994)
- Apply grammar and mechanics in their own writing
- Learn particular forms of writing
- Build and maintain self-confidence and motivation for struggling writers
Why the Writing Powerbook Series?
The material of the Writing Powerbook series assembles the following features in one location:
- Tools for discussion with peers, teachers, and parents
- Opportunities for students to demonstrate their skills and understanding
- Opportunities for students to reflect on their work
- Documentation of students’ development and growth in ability, attitudes, and ex-
pression
- Tools fit for different learning styles, multiple intelligences, and cultural diversity
- Opportunities for students to trace the development of their learning
- Opportunities for students to make connections between prior knowledge and new learning
Writing Genres
The following table shows some of the different writing activities which learners will practice in Writing Powerbook:
- describing people, animals and places
- comparing people, animals and places
- asking questions and giving information in response to questions
- describing present actions
- narrating past events
- writing expository paragraphs and essays
- describing a process (experiment/recipe/etc.)
- describing cause and effect
- writing reports
- writing fresh story beginnings, endings, or settings
- writing fables, folktales, science-fiction, and poems
Components of Writing Powerbook 1 - New Edition
The material of Writing Powerbook - New Edition offers 22 writing lessons, grouped into five sections. Section 1 is focused on proofreading; Section 2 is focused on sentence structure; Section 3 focuses on the steps of the writing process and paragraph structure; Sections 4 and 5 introduce expository writing and narratives. Each lesson in these sections consists of five or six writing stages. Each writing stage is presented separately so that students can practice the writing process step-by-step. Examples and writ- ten models are provided at various writing stages for students to study and apply in their own writing projects. Each writing stage is also followed by an appropriate checklist used for self-evaluation and correction. Students learn how to identify writing problems and mistakes at every stage in the writing process through using these checklists. At the end of the book, a self-evaluation checklist and proofreading symbols are provided to be used in classroom proofreading activities. The Writing Log on page 115 will show students’ progress and identify any areas that require improvement. The most important aspect of the log, however, is that it engages the student in the process of thinking about writing.
Components of Writing Powerbook 2 - New Edition
The material of Writing Powerbook - New Edition offers 22 writing lessons, grouped in 8 sections. Section 1 is focused on sentence structure; Section 2 introduces the steps of the writing process; Section 3 focuses on paragraph structure; Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 introduce descriptive writing, writing narratives, expository writing, persuasive writing and writing science-fiction respectively. Each lesson in these sections consists of five or six writing stages. Each writing stage is presented separately so that students can practice the writing process step-by-step. Examples and written models are provided at various writing stages for students to study and apply in their own writing projects. Each writing stage is also followed by an appropriate checklist used for self-evaluation and correction. Students learn how to identify writing problems and mistakes at every stage in the writing process through using these checklists. At the end of the book, a peer-evaluation checklist and proofreading symbols are provided to be used in classroom proofreading activities. The Writing Log on page 127 will show students’ progress and identify any areas that require improvement. The most important aspect of the log, however, is that it engages the student in the process of thinking about writing.
Components of Writing Powerbook 3 - New Edition
The material of Writing Powerbook - New Edition offers 22 writing lessons, grouped in 8 sections. Section 1 is focused on sentence structure; Section 2 introduces the steps of the writing process; Section 3 focuses on paragraph structure; Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 introduce Descriptive writing, writing Narratives, Expository writing, Persuasive writing and writing Science-Fiction respectively. Each lesson in these sections consists of five or six writing stages. Each writing stage is presented separately so that students can practice the writing process step by step. Examples and written models are provided at various writing stages for students to study and apply in their own writing projects. Each writ- ing stage is also followed by an appropriate Checklist used for self-evaluation and correction. Students learn how to identify writing problems and mistakes at every stage in the writing process through using these Checklists. At the end of the book, a peer-evaluation checklist and proofreading symbols are provided to be used in classroom proofreading activities. The Writing Log on page 164 will show students progress and areas needing improvement. The most important aspect of the log, however, is that it engages the student in the process of thinking about writing.
