quotations+about+writing

When we help kids focus on craft and their own responses--on how a book was written and how it affected them--we encourage an active, critical stance as readers. Nancie Atwell p. 284

Learning argumentation is important but should not be emphasized at the expense of learning how to write strong narratives, parodies, and dramas or express ideas in countless other ways. Writing involves problem solving, and in order for students to develop a repertoire of problem-solving strategies, they need a variety of writing experiences. Peter Smagorinsky et al p. 185

Good writers and writing don't take less time; they take more. Nancie Atwell p.92

Hypercorrection might undermine their ability to learn the specific strategies for producing suspenseful, fictional narratives that she has been teaching. Peter Smagorinsky et al p.49

Writing, by way of example, involves experimenting, planning, choosing, questioning, anticipating, putting words on paper legibly, analyzing, organizing, reading, listening, assessing, reviewing, spelling, formatting, punctuating, using other conventions, editing, proofreading. I know one piece of writing can't provide an accurate picture of a student's abilities but represents a step in a writer's growth. Nancie Atwell p. 284 p. 313

Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing, and learn as you go. E.L. Doctorow