This post was originally published in Nick Glass’ monthly column for Curriculum Connections, an e-newsletter published by School Library Journal in partnership with TeachingBooks.net. Subscribe to this free newsletter here.
Engage students with technology as you explore best practices in writing. By integrating the online resources listed in this post into your curriculum, students can have award-winning authors model the application of specific writing tips and techniques.
Lois Lowry shares that The Giver (Houghton, 1993) was written by asking, “what if….”
Ingrid Law tells how drafting “one, absolutely crazy sentence” gave her the first line of her Newbery Honor title, Savvy (Dial, 2008).
Sharon Creech, Walter Dean Myers, Avi, and Sarah Weeks perform Creech’s Love That Dog (HarperCollins, 2001), a story in which a boy reveals how important it is for him to feel safe and comfortable before expressing personal feelings in his writing.
Jeff Kinney describes how his cartoon-filled journals became the inspiration for Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Abrams, 2007).
Virginia Euwer Wolff explains that she began Make Lemonade (Holt, 1993) by utilizing two creative writing exercises.
Ann Brashares articulates how the plot of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Delacorte, 2001) took shape as she began to understand one of her characters.
Posted by Nick Glass, Founder & Principal of TeachingBooks.net
Leave a Reply