Sources:
Calkins, Lucy and Cruz, M. Colleen. Writing Fiction: Big Dreams, Tall Ambitions. Portsmouth:
First Hand Heinemann. 2006
Erion, Polly. Drama in the Classroom. Fort Bragg: Cypress House. 1996.
Gallegher, Kelly. Teaching Adolescent Writers. Portland: Stenhouse Publishers. 2006.
Jorgensen, Karen. The Whole Story: Crafting Fiction in the Elementary Grades. Portsmouth:
Heinemann. 2001.
Newkirk, Thomas. Holding On to Good Ideas in a Time of Bad Ones. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
2009.
Piazza, Carolyn L. Journeys. Upper Saddle River: Merril Prentice Hall. 2003.
Walker, Pam Prince. Bring in the Arts: Lessons in Dramatics, Art, and Story Writing for
Elementary and Middle School Classrooms. Portsmouth: Heinemann. 1993.
Most Helpful and Relevant Research
1. Writing Fiction: Big Dreams, Tall Ambitions by Lucy Calkins and M. Colleen Cruz
This book was the resource that influenced my TW the most. It is designed to guide a
teacher through the entire process of teaching a unit of realistic fiction in the elementary
grades intended to last several weeks. Calkins and Cruz provide a structure for students to
brainstorm story ideas—even this process occurs over a couple of days, develop well-formed
and believable characters, and formulate a cohesive plot. Students are encouraged to write
from the experiences of their own lives. The stories they write develop around the conflicts
that arise when characters’ desires clash with inevitable obstacles. Covering in depth, issues
that arise in all stages of the writing process, this resource will be the one I will go to first if I
have the opportunity to teach the craft of fiction to intermediate student writers. I appreciate
the approach of this book because it gives language to fiction craft, enabling teachers and
students to talk about writing together, especially in the revision process.
Some teachers may not agree with Calkin’s and Cruz’s insistence that children write only
about what they know. In one example Calkins gives, a student is brainstorming a story idea.
He is encouraged to think about characters like himself as he considers a protagonist for his
story. He suggests writing about a 23 year old because he has a cousin who is 23 who instant
messages him. Calkins discourages the writer from using his cousin as the main character,
telling the student that he doesn’t know what it’s like to be 23; he knows what it’s like to be a 9
year old with a cousin who is 23. Throughout the book, she directs writers away from main
characters who are different in age than the students and away from the elements of fantasy
that intermediate writers often include in their fiction.
2. The Whole Story by Karen Jorgensen
This resource is quite similar to the Calkins and Cruz resource in that it provides ideas for
teaching craft within the setting of a writer’s workshop model. Jorgensen highlights ideas for
helping students with common problems in the fiction writing of this age group including plot
jumps, frontloading information (telling all about a character in the first few sentences),flat
characters, and overuse of dialogue. She suggests, like Calkins, that students center their
stories around a couple or a few small scenes, as opposed to several plot-propelling events.
Her book includes many classroom stories with actual student/student dialogue. She suggests
many student centered activities to help writers imagine plot and character including skits and
conversations in which students collaborate to imagine different plot lines.
An instructor using this book might have to fill in the blanks. The author offers countless
ideas and helps the reader imagine how these ideas might play out in the classroom by
illustrating the ideas with stories and writing samples from her own classroom. She does not
present a detailed script for teaching realistic fiction in the way that Calkins and Cruz do.
3. Bring in the Arts: Lessons in Dramatics, Art, and Story Writing for Elementary and Middle
Classrooms by Pam Prince Walker
This is a fascinating resource that presents a framework for using the arts in the
classroom as way to build community and enrich learning experiences, especially story
writing. The author does not take for granted the level of trust that must exist within the
classroom environment before students are truly comfortable expressing themselves
through drama. She also recognizes the need for a common language when using drama
often in the classroom. Walker’s book outlines a series of drama activities for elementary
and middle school students meant to build, over time, comfort levels and trust as well as
technique and understanding of method improvisation. Her approach to teaching through
the arts, takes improvisation quite seriously. If used in a classroom the way the author
suggests, student learning would be greatly enriched by a deep understanding of drama
that the lessons teach. Walker’s intention is that eventually, students will become adept
and comfortable with improvisation, thus giving the teacher countless options for using
drama to enhance learning experiences. Many of the activities suggested apply directly to
building plot and developing characters. This would be a wonderful guide for a teacher
seeking to use arts throughout the year to heighten creativity and inspire writing. The
author insists that her method must be followed exactly for any of the activities to be
effective. I believe it’s possible for a teacher to modify the lessons to the context of a
particular classroom, but her sensitivity toward a positive classroom environment and a
common language for improvisation are worth considering.
Some of the activities the author suggests seem inappropriate for older students. For
instance, in one activity, children are invited to act like animals. The book includes teacher
scripts for facilitating activities using tone and word choice much more suitable for younger
children. The author also unrealistically assumes that if an instructor correctly and wholeheartedly implements her methods, there will be absolutely no behavior problems and no
reluctance to participate in the activities. This is not realistic; there are no foolproof
methods or scripts.