Lorraine Wilson - Writing to Live

Writing to Live: How to Teach Writing for Today's World

Buy this book from Lorraine for $51 Writing To Live

Lorraine's latest professional title 'Writing to Live: How to Teach Writing for Today's World', published by Heinemann in the USA explores how all teaching programs are linked to particular world views and impact upon students accordingly: the teaching of writing can be either a debilitating and confidence sapping experience for students, or a source of delight and empowerment.

The body of this text, explores teaching which develops learners who are able and willing to use their writing as active members of participatory democracies. It describes much critical literacy work undertaken in classrooms. Lorraine writes passionately about the need for learning programs to value all students and of the need for knowledgeable teachers who are free to make teaching decisions directly related to the needs of the students, they are teaching.

Review

'Australian Lorraine Wilson's work is laser-focused on the goal of a better world through critical, democratic educational practice in language arts classrooms. This book is remarkable for combining its clearly articulated theory and philosophy with detailed descriptions of classroom strategies, including many examples of children's writing demonstrating how activities play out.

The book has several impressive strengths. First is Wilson's ability to present extraordinarily complex ideas, like critical literacy, in clear and accessible language, making the book wonderfully reader friendly. Second, it's clear that Wilson's understanding of the writing process is deep and thorough; this means not only that all the activities are true to a process approach, but also that the author cautions readers not to draw common but mistaken conclusions (that grammar or phonics are never taught, for example). Third, the text offers a plethora of practical, easy to implement strategies that are adaptable to a wide range of classrooms.

Teachers who share Wilson's vision of teachers as architects of a more socially just world will find this text an invaluable map of the journey toward it.'

Extracts from a review by Associate professor Patricia H. Hinchey, Penn State Uni.
www.lib.msu.edu/corby/reviews

I write the world

I write about
me
my freckles
Dad's bad back
I write about
Grandma dying.

I write to find out
what makes freckles
where the sun goes at night
how birds fly without falling
I write to find out
where Grandma is now.

I write to make change
to stop bullying
to keep cats inside
to clean up the rivers
to ask why -
there was no hospital bed for Grandma

I right the world