Get It Done!: Writing and Analyzing Informational Texts to Make Things Happen

by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Michael Smith, James Fredricksen

Informational texts aren't just for school

""Even if the CCSS are not adopted in your state, the theory and instruction we present is devoted to developing not only competence in literacy, but competence in life."" -Jeffrey Wilhelm, Michael Smith, and James Fredricksen

Informational texts aren't just for school. They are a real-world tool for making things happen. Similarly, the Common Core State Standards for writing are designed to help adolescents be prepared for the world outside the classroom.

That's why Jeffrey Wilhelm, Michael Smith, and James Fredricksen wrote "Get It Done!" So that once kids leave school, they'll have the skills, know-how, and agency to do work that matters by composing nonfiction texts-and so that their teachers have a clear-cut set of strategies for instruction in informational genres.

"Naming and listing, summarizing, describing, defining, comparing and contrasting, classifying, identifying cause-effect relationships, exploring problem-solution situations-Get It Done! "will both help you teach all these types of informational texts engagingly and effectively, while explicitly connecting your work to the Common Core State Standards.

Help your students "Get It Done! ""We think that through effective instruction, the goals of the CCSS and much more can be met," write Wilhelm, Smith, and Fredricksen. "More important we want the work we and our students do to "matter.""

Genres: Teaching, Nonfiction, Professional Development

272 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2012

Reviews

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that this book is principle-based, not just a bunch of ideas, although there are plenty of those. One key idea I took away is a way to engage students in writing they do in school (a problem we can't get away from): that is to ask students to identify when in their lives they will/could use the THINKING they will use or have used in a particular writing task. It seems to me that that is an excellent way to make the writing that goes on in school connect to lives outside of school. "True, you may never have to write an analysis of a novel again, but when might a person in life beyond school use this kind of thinking--analysis, gathering and citing evidence, etc.?"

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is important for teachers to make sure that writing is considered a real-life skill that connects to the lives of their students. This book does an excellent job of providing a basis on learning just how to do this. I liked that it touched on other content areas, very much aligning itself with the Common Core.

[Joel Wally · Rating 4 out of 5]

An awesome look into writing explanatory/informational texts. This type of writing can be so much more interesting in the classroom than just a research paper. I loved that this book had so many ideas about writing activities for the classroom that are different and often have a real-world purpose and audience to them.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always nice to find little tidbits to use in classroom or affirm what I'm already doing.