WRITING IS MAGIC, OR IS IT?

By Jennifer M. Bogard and Mary C. McMackin. How do good writers do it? Like revealing how pigeons get tucked up a magician’s sleeve, this book investigates 18 model texts by accomplished writers to help students integrate successful strategies into their own writing. Lesson plans involving multiple genres—poetry, fictional and nonfictional narrative, and informational and persuasive writing—identify the techniques of various authors in order to investigate aspects of craft, including voice, point of view, sentence structure, and use of grammar. Students gain from not only being told what to do, but shown how to do it. A CD-ROM makes reproducible handouts printable. Grades 4–12. Bibliographies. 8½" x 11". Shell Education. 188 pages. ©2015.