"Middle school teachers can breathe a sigh of relief. There is now a great handbook to help teach writing. It's Teaching the Story: Fiction Writing in Middle School. Along with the book there are more than 70 customizable transparencies and reproducibles included on the accompanying Resource CD. The ideas in the book then help you encourage students through every step of the writing process, from brainstorming to critiques to the elements of story to genres. This book is worth its weight in gold – but it's just $23.95 plus s/h from Maupin House. For grades six to eight." -www.TeachingK-8.com
"Although middle school students have stories to tell, getting them to tell those stories can be a daunting job for a teacher. Carol Baldwin's book "Teaching the Story" is a marvel of clear, concise, and helpful prompts teachers can use to help jump start a student's imagination…. When students discover that they can transform the stories in their heads into something they're proud to have other people read, they may not even realize how much they're learning." Stephanie Greene, author of 17 juvenile books.
"This is the most user-friendly, well-organized guide I've found for teaching writing to students. Carol Baldwin cuts out the clutter and goes directly to the nuts and bolts of crafting short stories. Her mini-lessons fit seamlessly into established curriculum, and the reproducible activities help even teachers who aren't writers themselves make creative writing fun for their students." ----Laura Backes, publisher of Children's Book Insider, The Newsletter for Children's Writers
"Teaching the Story is a thoroughly 'student-friendly' curriculum supplement that will enable classroom teachers to prepare their students for standardized testing, as well as for their academic writing assignments. Baldwin's flexible approach to teaching creative writing skills to children is especially appropriate for students seeking to write coherent and readable sports, fantasy, science fiction, mystery, and historical stories...Teaching the Story is strongly recommended for use with grades 5 through 8."
-The Midwest Book Review, "Library Bookwatch" and "Internet Bookwatch," June 2007"
For more information about my book, please click on my page on the Maupin House website.
Click here for reviews from teachers and home school educators.
Here are four reproducibles from the CD that are now available online:
Exercise Muscle Words
Create Your Character
Create Imaginary Characters
Build a Plot
My book is now available as an ebook and can be ordered through Capstone.
