Write With Me: Partnering With Parents in Writing Instruction

Sentz, a teacher at Cloverbank Elementary School in New York, offers a month-by-month themed writing program based on parent-child writing journals and family scrapbooks, aimed at getting parents involved in helping kids learn to write. The program is intended as a supplement to any existing writing program, with activities designed to be enjoyable and simple enough for any parent/child duo. Early chapters of the book cover obstacles to parent engagement and how to overcome them. The steps of the program are illustrated with numerous samples of parent and child journal entries. A final chapter offers additional ideas such as a poetry theater. Chapter reflection and discussion questions are included, useful for critical friends groups or peer collaborative projects. A web site offers downloadable materials from the book, such as parent letters, student questionnaires, writing prompts, journal covers, and sample units. It also provides sample parent-child entries, along with the author's observations. There is no subject index. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)