Building Strong Writers: Strategies and Scaffolds for Teaching Writing in Secondary ELA

by Christina Schneider

Creating Confident Writers Has Never Been Easier!



These days, students seem to be struggling more and more with writing. From starting an essay to tackling a creative assignment, the art of writing seems to be more challenging for today’s youth. Our students have so much to say, but sometimes they might not know how to put their thoughts onto paper. These students have strong opinions and beliefs they want to express, but writing might not be one of their natural strengths. This means their brilliant ideas might never be shared in an ELA class or within a standard writing assignment.

If we are going to teach our students to become stronger writers, we need to make sure our ELA classes meet the needs of every single one of our students. We need to purposefully include strategies and scaffolds in our instruction for the students who struggle with writing and provide them with the structure needed to succeed. Building Strong Writers aims to equip educators with all the tools necessary to help their students be confident, compelling writers and to understand the tremendous power of the written word.

“As a former English teacher and current college professor, I recommend this book for anyone looking to teach the writing process effectively and efficiently. The models, examples, and organization make this book one you’ll read and reference throughout your career!” —Jenna Copper, PhD, coauthor of Keeping the Wonder



“Full of helpful sentence frames and step-by-step lesson plans. The clear, easy-to-follow scaffolds ensure every educator can confidently guide their students through the writing process as they work to become proficient, skilled writers!“—Ashley Bible, coauthor of Keeping the Wonder

Genres: Teaching

204 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 16, 2024

Reviews

[Carla Sofia Sofia]

I think this is an excellent read for someone who has not done any teacher training / is going into education via the alternate route. For me, though, this was very affirming of teaching methods I already use, but I didn't learn much that was new, more like this gave me a few key reminders, including the fact that sentence frames are essential tools in the writing classroom. I agree with pretty much close to everything Schneider writes in this book. The pedagogy is sound, thoughtful, and research-backed. But this really should be marketed towards student teachers or folks brand new to the English classroom. Going into my ninth year of teaching English, I unfortunately did not learn anything new from this book. Still grateful for Schneider's work; I've no doubt she's a phenomenal teacher and I think this still could be useful for explaining concepts like backwards planning to my college prof colleagues.

[Laura McDonell · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Building Strong Writers" by Christiana Schneider is an outstanding resource for teachers of upper elementary to high school students. As an experienced educator, I found the book full of practical, examples that sparked several "aha" moments for me. The author's responsiveness to my direct messages added immense value, clarifying any questions I had. I am eager to implement many of the book's ideas in my classroom next year. If you teach students writing in any way- this is a must have resource! Highly recommended!

[Kora Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll start by saying, there is nothing new or earth shattering in this book. However, as the title says, it concisely lays out strategies and scaffolds that will benefit all students. The examples are helpful and practical to a wide range of classroom writing. I have several ideas for activities I can implement right away. It gave me confidence to lean more fully into those strategies (ex:sentence frames) I already use but worry, "am I doing too much of the work for them?" I found the collaborative writing and peer editing chapters particularly useful.

[Julia Girani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christina is an absolute mastermind and the Beyoncé of English Language Arts. She gives clear and concise strategies that are effective for teaching English in the classroom. With examples, personal anecdotes and rationale behind her practice, she captures the foundations and importance of going back to the basics to better build sophisticated writers.

[Kendra (thevisionaryclassroom) · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a veteran English teacher, I enjoyed the simplicity of the strategies presented in this book. This book is a great reminder to return to the basics when it comes to teaching writing. It is easy to develop shiny object syndrome when it comes to education especially if you’re in a district that emphasizes testing.

[Deon Cantrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

English teachers writing guidebook

Where was this my first year of teaching!? This would have been extremely beneficial, and I can’t wait to use some of these strategies in my classroom. Even though we are using a packaged curriculum, I know I will be able to utilize these steps to better my students writing.

[Katy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful and detailed resource for any ELA teacher, especially new to the field. Schneider begins with the basics and details specific strategies and supports for students learning how to write. She further develops how teachers can plan those scaffolds throughout the year all the way to the first major writing unit.

[Melissa Braden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing really new, but it's a nice, quick reference.

[Nik's Nook · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the way this book is structured. A lot of great strategies: some of which I already use, and some I intend to!