Practicality on Paper

Of course, Peterson's paper book also has some great suggestions (don't go abandoning all traditional paper resources!). Here are a few practical strategies for teaching writing I found particularly useful:

1. The Writing Binder: since students' are collecting information and research (and then writing about it), it is important to provide a way for your students to organize their work. Give students a binder and have them "divide them in 2 sections. In the Portfolio section, students keep drafts of their writing. In the Resources section, students keep the computer printouts, notes they have taken while reading/viewing/interviewing", as well as anything else they have collected while researching (p. 18).
2. Reinforcing Non-Fiction Literacy Skills: "when using a textbook, instead of directing students' to a particular page, give students the topic and ask them to use the table of contents, the index, or headings and subheadings of chapters to find the correct page" (p. 21).
3. Strategies and Suggestions for Students' Using the Internet as a Resource: Peterson provides two mini-lesson ideas for guiding our students in their hunt for information on the Internet. One activity is how to narrow a key word search, and the next is how to determine the credibility of various websites. (p. 22-25).