Title: Classroom Publishing
Author: King, Laurie & Dennis Stovall
Publication Data: 1992 - Blue Heron Publishing, Inc. Hillsboro, Oregon

Major Points of Interest:

My interest in this book centered around the fact that it is classroom oriented. The authors present observations and case study essays about presenting students' writing for publication. The first four chapters present "Tales from the Classroom". Each chapter covers a particular teaching specialty and a project, e.g. Publishing and the Language Arts Classroom, Publishing Across the Curriculum, New Voices, and Expanded Audiences.

Section 1 tells the great projects teachers and students are doing across the country both in rural and urban schools. All types of classrooms are considered. The the culture of the classroom is evident in the stories. Teachers recount projects such as making and sharing children's books by high schoolers, creating multicultural folk tales for publishing, making poetry anthologies with 1st graders, involving special education students in writing and publication, and making native American calendars. King and Stovall's book is richly illustrated as well.

Section 2 covers the nuts and bolts of publication. The authors cover topics about careers in publishing, the history of publishing, where to get money to publish, and the how and why of publishing. The authors give examples taken directly from case studies to show how teachers and students solve problems and publish books, newspapers newsletters, calendars, anthologies, and interviews. A particular helpful feature of section 2 is a feature called "Floss to Gloss". This term refers to a project that used dental floss to hand sew classroom books and to the slick glossy publications that some high schools produce. Each chapter has practical information that teachers and students can use ubder this heading.

Implications for Teaching or Writing:

Classroom Publishing points the way that teachers can share with wider audiences the writing that students produce. It shows how involved students become from the beginning of an ethnographic interview with a family member about family history to the publication of the interview. King and Stovall help teachers celebrate student's writing. The book gives step by step examples of writing publication for all students.

Interest for Others:

Classroom Publishing has something for every grade level and most classrooms. The authors have extensively documented writing projects across the curriculum, through all grade levels, and in a variety of schools. My favorite project involved making and reading children's books. High schools researched and read children's books. They used this information to write and illustrate original children's books. These high schoolers then took their books to elementary classrooms and shared them with kids. This is only one of the many examples the authors use to show teachers and students publish their writing.