Live Writing by Ralph Fletcher
Write Up a Storm With the
Reviewed by Deana Graham
Each of these small, paperback books is written for kids by a childrenís author. They are consummately practical and accessible, filled with examples from the authorís own works, and in Fletcherís case, other authorís and studentís work as well.
Giffís book is written for younger students (2nd-4th grades) bit its simplicity allows a skill to stand out in clarity and, used in the right way, is valuable to the older student as well. She writes with a wonderful conversational voice that is welcoming and non-threatening. Her short chapters could be used as a read aloud introduction to the each story element. Her chapters include character, setting, the problem, building the plot, endings and revision. Each chapter ends with a page or two titled, ìCan You See How I Did It?î where she gives examples from her Polk Street School series, and ìYour Turnî, a page Giff includes to guide the reader to write using the specific skill she has outlined. The Your Turn pages are clear, specific and sequential, an excellent skill builder within the classroom.
Fletcherís Live Writing is geared for upper elementary and middle school students, but I believe it could easily be referenced in high school classrooms as well (with a few disclaimers as to the student work examples). I am recommending this book to my own 18 year old budding author. Fletcher, like Giff, organizes his book loosely around the story elements but adds basic writing skills like adding detail and, what he calls ìthe golden lineî. His chapter on the setting ìThe Missing Ingredientî humorously personifies this story element to give it importance and is one of my favorite of Fletcherís chapter. I also really liked the chapter on the ìgolden lineî, an ìamazing sentence that about knocks you overî. He gives plenty of examples and a few hints such as use strong verbs, try a surprising comparison, and avoid overwriting. Fletcher sets up each chapter with bolded subtitles, an excellent graphic organizer for student and teacher. This strategy would make it easy to use this book as a resource within the classroom (turn to chapter 9 and find the 3 hints on using a golden line). The inclusion of student work and those of other authors gives plenty of examples of the skill Fletcher is teaching. As a teacher, you would not have to search for examples to use with your class. They are included in the book.
Not only are both of these books excellent resources for any writing teacher, they are written in an engaging and disarming way to appeal to all writers and potential writers. I highly recommend Live Writing and Write Up a Storm With the Polk Street School for your classroom.