Project-Based Writing: Teaching Writers to Manage Time and Clarify Purpose

by Liz Prather, Cris Tovani (Foreward)

The idea that students should be "college and career ready" when they leave high school has become a major focus in education, but much of this conversation has been on reading readiness. What about writing readiness? Liz Prather argues that we can set students up for future success when we help them learn to care about what they're writing, and help them manage their time to write. "I needed a framework for teaching writing that would keep my students accountable and engaged," Liz explains, "but would allow them to write from their own passions, and instill in them an understanding of time management, goal setting, and production. By adding the tenets and practices of project-based learning, I could simultaneously protect the creative processes of my students while helping them learn to manage long term writing projects, the kind of projects they would be doing in college or in a career." Project-Based Writing provides a 7 step structure to conceive, manage, and deliver writing projects built upon student voice and student choice. Liz includes classroom-tested strategies for helping kids persevere through roadblocks, changes in direction, failed attempts, and most importantly, "anticipate the tricks of that wily saboteur, Time." Both practical and inspirational, Project-Based Writing teaches kids the real-world lessons they need to become real-world writers. "With this book, you will quite likely become the person students remember as the one who taught them how to write."- Cris Tovani

Genres: Teaching, Education, Nonfiction, Professional Development

224 pages, Paperback

Published September 13, 2017

Reviews

[adeservingporcupine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whelp. Looks like I have to revamp my entire writing program. 😂

No really though. I’ve read a ton of teacher books about writing, and I often feel like they have great ideas, but between reading and implementation, I end up forgetting about a lot of them. I think, after reading this book, I see why. So much of traditional writing instruction doesn’t actually mirror the creative process that any of us use when we take something from idea to product. This book step by step gives structure to the reality of writing while explicitly teaching teachers how to give students the freedom to explore their own creative processes within that structure. It also is the first book on writing that doesn’t just say failure is a part of that process, but guides us on how to teach failure. (She explicitly states ‘this is a book about failure, not mastery.’)

I will say that there is very little discussion of reading (there are no whole class novels or book clubs in Ms. Prather’s room),I still don’t fully understand how she assigns grades, and that time needed for this is overwhelming. It will require a lot of modification to work for my specific classroom, and I wish there were online tools for me to steal (including a student friendly list of places to submit your work). But this feels like how writing should be taught, and I’m excited to try it this year.

[Kenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love/hate when a book makes me want to throw out my entire curriculum and start from scratch 😂

I don’t see myself ever implementing her ideas exactly how she does (she doesn’t have any literature focused study in her classes, which I just couldn’t do!), but I see myself rewriting every writing unit I have to include pieces of the process she outlines here. I just love the ideas for authentic accountability and choice that she gives! It was a cool new way to think about the writing process & how to get student buy in.

[Jennifer Brinkmeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm shaken. And I love it. I'll link to my formal review for Moving Writers once it's done, but this book said everything that I've been trying to say, everything I've been reaching for. Her framework offers the most authentic writers' community in the secondary classroom that I've ever seen. It's scaffolded enough that students can thrive and teachers can focus on the most important work.

[Michelle Bruewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has given me a whole bucket of ideas and possibilities for how to approach writing differently in my classroom. It is a useful book full of a lot of tools, as well as a detailed framework on how to teach writing and reading around the idea of writing as a project for an authentic audience. And the opportunities for student choice that it presents—wow!

[Olivia's Bookish Places & Spaces · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the books used in my graduate English education courses. While Prather writes well and has some funny anecdote stories, her ideas are fairly unoriginal.

[Ryan Mccoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m your atypical English teacher that doesn’t care to read or write much, especially a pedagogical book. That said, I burned through this today in preparation for a collaboration with a good colleague of mine.

I come from a theater background and absolutely love this approach because it mirrors our preparation for all types of class and extracurricular performances large and small. The class was a community. We were creators with a purpose.

As we exit pandemic teaching, I am looking for ways to break the “fill in the box” mentality and get back into creating spaces for performance. This approach may be the ticket.

I know I will struggle with all the writing resource support in the middle of this process, but there are plenty of references given and teachers around me to help.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not sure how I would tweak this for the primary grades, but from fourth grade on up - this book supports an authentic writing process for a purpose and audience of choice. I LOVE THIS BOOK! While supporting an authentic writing process, it is also teaching kids important collaborative and executive functioning skills - all of which can be transferred to other classes and their life. In my opinion teachers dictate too much of the process and product, which hurts independence. Mastery and product are often more important, which diminishes risk-taking, practice, and valuable learning. Process (risk taking and practice) and product are valued in this book, which is SO important! I will be incorporating much of this book into my writing classroom.

[Sarah Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the strategies she develops here and her philosophy on writing authentic pieces with genuine audiences and about subjects for which students already have passion. The only sticking point for me is that I believe there also needs to be room in the secondary English classroom for reading/discussion of literature as well—and not just as a means to an end for writers. But overall, love the PBW framework and will definitely be using it in my classroom! Along with other strategies/focal texts.

[Lisa Penninga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been wanting to teach writing more as a process than a product, and this book gave me some amazing ways to implement the writing process in a community atmosphere of writers and readers leading their journey instead of me dictating what and how to write. 2018-2019 is going to be an epic year, H9! Can’t wait!!!

[Cristi Julsrud · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an absolutely outstanding text. After four years of incorporating voice and choice in my readers/writers workshop, but feeling as though there was still something missing, this book has helped me to visualize the next step! What a phenomenal way to teach students to fail successfully. I cannot wait to start incorporating these ideas into my classroom.

[Mr. Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

For once some real concrete steps for incorporating project-based elements into writing workshop in a way that supports and challenges writers by meeting them where they are and then using identity and inquiry to push them (and persuade them to move on their own) forward into more complex and self-driven work. Love it.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prather takes the teacher-reader by the hand and shares a vision of process, product, project, and practice that actually feels achievable. I appreciate that she doesn’t expect readers to replicate her approach exactly; she includes frequent sidebars in the text that offer suggestions for alternative approaches that are particularly helpful.

[June Shaw]

Prather offers so many applicable approaches to creating a community for the sake of real growth and learning. Feeling a new sense of purpose in my career. Grateful to not only be inspired by her words, but also armed by her super applicable and well-explained lessons/approaches.

[Ryan Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredibly useful guide to crafting writing units that not only grant students agency, but also give them authentic audiences. Plus, there are tons of great resources to make this happen in the classroom.

[Lauri · Rating 5 out of 5]

To have this classroom would be the ultimate reward.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

❤️

[Susan McGilvray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource for any English teacher!

[R Zavala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good ideas on a theme I already liked.