In this comprehensive guide to teaching writing, experienced educator Adrienne Gear invites teachers to ignore the “cherry picking” approach of “cute, glittery, one-off piece[s] of writing glued onto a turkey, haunted house or Valentine’s heart.” As an alternative, she offers her “brain pockets” model, which is designed around students’ personal knowledge, experience and imagination.

What exactly are brain pockets? Gear identifies three: the memory pocket, which stores our experiences; the fact pocket, which stores facts and information; and the imagination pocket, where ideas and creativity reside. Gear’s program lays out how to use these within a balanced literacy program to help students develop a positive attitude toward writing and create personalized learning goals for effective writing processes.

The model is premised on one clear idea: that a student’s writing is a gift to the reader if it is both clear and interesting. She stresses that “the reader is the most important part of your writing” and emphasizes this throughout instruction. This focus is echoed in the lessons and helps students connect to the audience.

The book includes mini-lessons for all types of writing, suggesting that teachers use a “write-aloud” approach to model the process. Gear’s “GUM It” strategy encourages students to give it a try, underline and move on, so that they can “focus on their ideas and not their spelling.” Students will enjoy the “Smokin’ Pencils” free-writing strategy, which invites playfulness into writing. Throughout the book, Gear provides suggestions for anchor books and mentor texts to stimulate rich discussion about stories, authors and writing.

Writing conferences are a staple of assessment and instruction. Gear reframes these so that instead of focusing on coaching (providing specific comments and tips on a single piece of writing), conferences involve the student and teacher looking at several pieces together to notice and focus on the writer’s “strengths and stretches.”

The affordable price, practical content and copy-ready resources make Powerful Writing Structures a must-have book for your classroom.

JoAnne Formanek Gustafson is a member of the Rainy River Occasional Teacher Local.