Keys to Inspiration

A Teacher's Guide to a Student-Centered Writing Program

Steve Ford

Student-centered instruction is the buzzword among today’s educators, yet the teaching of writing is still very top-down. Student-centered should mean student-inspired, and that’s where Keys to Inspiration comes in. The path to a writer’s truth always starts with an emotion, and almost all forms of writing contain at least a trace of emotional DNA. This book shows teachers how to align emotion with subject matter, and it offers them lessons and projects (from challenging writing exercises to larger projects, such as memoir, research reports, and editorials) that resonate with young authors. While Keys to Inspiration focuses sharply on content, it contains an instructive mechanics section and an Appendix of unique word lists (emotion-related words, themed spelling lists, and alternatives to “went” and “said,” to name a few), as well as a few grammar worksheets.
Once motivated, young authors must learn to describe with detail, meddle with metaphor, and mind their mechanics. Veteran writing instructor Steve Ford offers many lessons and exercises that will polish students’ narrative skills, and he alerts teachers to the common spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes that young writers need to learn to avoid.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 230 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4758-3872-5 • Hardback • February 2018 • $72.00 • (£55.00)

978-1-4758-3873-2 • Paperback • February 2018 • $36.00 • (£28.00)

978-1-4758-3874-9 • eBook • February 2018 • $34.00 • (£26.00)

Subjects: Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Language Arts, Education / Student Life & Student Affairs, Language Arts & Disciplines / Writing / General

Keys to Inspiration

A Teacher's Guide to a Student-Centered Writing Program

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Student-centered instruction is the buzzword among today’s educators, yet the teaching of writing is still very top-down. Student-centered should mean student-inspired, and that’s where Keys to Inspiration comes in. The path to a writer’s truth always starts with an emotion, and almost all forms of writing contain at least a trace of emotional DNA. This book shows teachers how to align emotion with subject matter, and it offers them lessons and projects (from challenging writing exercises to larger projects, such as memoir, research reports, and editorials) that resonate with young authors. While Keys to Inspiration focuses sharply on content, it contains an instructive mechanics section and an Appendix of unique word lists (emotion-related words, themed spelling lists, and alternatives to “went” and “said,” to name a few), as well as a few grammar worksheets.
Once motivated, young authors must learn to describe with detail, meddle with metaphor, and mind their mechanics. Veteran writing instructor Steve Ford offers many lessons and exercises that will polish students’ narrative skills, and he alerts teachers to the common spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes that young writers need to learn to avoid.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 230 • Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜

978-1-4758-3872-5 • Hardback • February 2018 • $72.00 • (£55.00)

978-1-4758-3873-2 • Paperback • February 2018 • $36.00 • (£28.00)

978-1-4758-3874-9 • eBook • February 2018 • $34.00 • (£26.00)

Subjects: Education / Teaching Methods & Materials / Language Arts, Education / Student Life & Student Affairs, Language Arts & Disciplines / Writing / General

Author

Steve Ford had a great run as a sixth-grade writing specialist with the Saint Paul Public Schools. Starting out, he had no curriculum—only a passion for writing and teaching—but after months of researching pedagogical scholarship and experimenting with his students, he came up with his own unique brand of writing instruction, which has formed the basis of Keys to Inspiration. To learn more about Steve Ford, please check out www.stevefordwriting.com.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Section I – Let’s Write!
1. Moment One, Day One‒Taking the Plunge
2. Revising Moment One: Questions in the Margins
3. Student Biographies
4. Respect, the Booklet
5. Writers’ Workshop
6. Assessment
7. Commonalities: General to Specific
8. Dramatic Details
9. Odd Objects
10. Music Picture/Writing
11. A Non-essay on Elements
12. Slow Motion
13. Fast Forward
14. Create a Life
15. Let’s Write a Walter Mitty!
16. In Other Words: Paraphrasing
17. Write More! Things to Consider
Section II – Major Projects
1. Commonalities in Essays, Editorials, Research Writing, and Debate: An Introduction to Four Projects
2. Persuasive Essay
3. Editorials and Editorial Cartoons
4. Writing a Research Report
5. Debate
6. Oral Presentation
7. Technical Writing
Section III – Mechanics - Introduction to Mechanics
1. Introduction to Mechanics
2. Grammar
3. Punctuation, Clauses, and Sentence Types
4. Spelling
Appendix
Appendix A: Spelling Lists
Appendix B: Spelling-related Lists
Appendix C: Other Lists
Bibliography

Reviews

What sets Steve Ford’s book apart is that he unpacks the mystery of motivation. He shows us that when students journey to their emotional center, inspiration follows, and students write. Buckle up as Steve takes us on a genre-writing journey, entertaining us along the way!
— Judith Mitzuk, literacy Coach, Saint Paul Public Schools

With eloquence and deftness, Steve Ford offers educators a compelling approach to teaching composition—writing from the heart. As a parent whose four children experienced Steve Ford first-hand, I recommend this winsome writer and his wonderful book.
— Lori Goetz, parent

Like Steve Ford, I believe strongly that writing leads to self-awareness, and that writing belongs in every discipline. These beliefs were the foundation of my literacy courses over the years, and they’re reflected throughout Keys to Inspiration. I wish this powerful book, full of inspirational lessons and projects, had been available to the future teachers in my classrooms.
— Barbara Elvecrog, professor emeritus, Hamline University

Mr. Ford understood the fundamental truth that good writing comes from raw emotion. Be it poetry or a play, he cultivated the inner writer in each of us. Too many writing teachers focus on the mechanics of language and forget why we write in the first place: to express ourselves. Instead of starting out with the "what?" Mr. Ford begins by asking young writers the far more interesting question: "Why?"
— Mary Mei, former student

Ford, a former sixth grade writing teacher, has developed a writing program filled with ideas and lessons that have succeeded in his classroom . . . librarians will appreciate Ford’s passion for lessons that encourage students to develop their own voice.
— Library Journal