Already Readers and Writers

Honoring Students' Rights to Read and Write in the Middle Grade Classroom

Heather Anderson, Jennifer Ochoa

• Publisher: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9780814100219
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Secondary Education
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Already Readers and Writers: Honoring Students' Rights to Read and Write in the Middle Grade Classroom is meant to help all middle school educators encourage their students to build literate lives both within the classroom and well beyond it.

Veteran middle school teacher Jennifer Ochoa has brought together middle school teachers and teacher leaders, children's author and We Need Diverse Books cofounder Ellen Oh, children's literature scholar Kristin McIlhagga, reading and writing workshop teacher-author Linda Rief, and censorship expert Millie Davis to examine current middle school literacy practices that support students' rights to read and write.

By showcasing their experiences and activities, and positioning NCTE policy statements— The Students' Right to Read and NCTE Beliefs about the Students' Right to Write —as foundational guiding documents, Ochoa and her colleagues prove that even in today's standards-driven environment, authentic reading and writing practices can create literacy-rich middle school classrooms.

As a bonus, teachers who don't have strong support in their schools to implement these practices will find a myriad of suggestions for developing a virtual personal learning network—a grassroots professional development tailored to their needs and interests—that will support them in their efforts to help kids as readers and writers.

About Principles in Practice
Books in the Principles in Practice imprint offer teachers concrete illustrations of effective classroom practices based in NCTE research briefs and policy statements.

Each book discusses the research on a specific topic, links the research to an NCTE brief or policy statement, and then demonstrates how those principles come alive in practice: by showcasing actual classroom practices that demonstrate the policies in action; by talking about research in practical, teacher-friendly language; and by offering teachers possibilities for rethinking their own practices in light of the ideas presented in the books.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• The Students' Right to Read
• NCTE Beliefs about the Students' Right to Write
• Introduction: Where We Have Been, Where We Are, Where We Are Going
• Part I........ The Golden Rules of Reading and Writing: The Students' Right to Read and NCTE Beliefs about the Students' Right to Write
• Part II........ Intervisitations
• Part III........ Shifting Our Shelves: Intentional Book Sharing and the We Need Diverse Books Movement
• Part IV........ Reconsidering Composition: Analyzing Standard School Composing Practices to Honor Students' Right to Write
• Part V........ Shoulders to Lean On and Arms to Link With: Seeking Support and Connection as We Do This Work
• Afterword: A Call to Action
• Annotated Bibliography
• References
• Index
• Editor
• Contributors