Novel Perspectives: Writing Minilessons Inspired by the Children in Adult Fiction

by Shelley Harwayne

For the first time, Shelley Harwayne shares her own writing minilessons with you. Combining her passion for reading adult literature with her commitment to supporting students' efforts to produce powerful and effective writing, Harwayne presents fifty-seven lessons for upper elementary and middle school that take teaching with exemplar texts in a dynamic new direction. Each minilesson includes passages from carefully chosen novels, all of which feature children as main characters. You'll find lessons built around passages from such famed writers as Toni Morrison, Dorothy Allison, Sandra Cisneros, Khaled Hosseini, Barbara Kingsolver, Pete Hamill, Elizabeth Berg, Rebecca Wells, Philip Roth, Ann Beattie, Ursula Hegi, and Jamaica Kincaid, lessons that will inspire students to be as inquisitive, observant, and reflective as their fictional counterparts. The minilessons in Novel Perspectives contain the actual words Harwayne uses in sharing these lessons with students and are divided into five Each minilesson promotes engagement with text as a way into successful writing but also stimulates classroom conversation, builds community, fights passivity, and gives students a chance to reinforce the notion that their lives are worth writing about. Novel Perspectives will inspire you to make time for your own reading and to begin merging your passion for books with your passion for teaching. Keep it next to your stack of must-reads, and as you discover passages perfect for your classroom, consult it for the best way to energize your writing workshop.

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2005

About the author

Shelley Harwayne was affiliated with the New York City public schools for more than thirty years as a teacher, staff developer, codirector of the Teachers College Writing Project, founding principal of the Manhattan New School, and superintendent of District #2 in New York City. She has worked as a consultant and keynote speaker throughout the world and has published numerous books and videos with Heinemann. In addition, Shelley has published two children's books.

-taken from heinemann.com

Reviews

[Kurt · Rating 3 out of 5]

67. Novel Perspectives, by Shelly Harwayne. 143 pages.
These are writing minilessons inspired by children in actual fiction. An interesting read you may enjoy if you don’t have a life and are desperate for things to do in your ELA classrooms.
*** Star Rating