Writing to Make an Impact

Sandra Murphy is former secondary teacher and professor emerita of education at the University of California, Davis. Mary Ann Smith is a former secondary teacher. She directed the Bay Area and California Writing Projects and served as director of government relations for the National Writing Project.

“Expertly written, organized and presented, Writing to Make an Impact: Expanding the Vision of Writing in the Secondary Classroom will prove to be an invaluable and effective curriculum textbook for creative writing classes at the college or university level, as well as creative writing seminars and workshops.”—Midwest Book Review

• Acknowledgments xi1. Writing to Make an Impact 1Writing That Matters 2Writing That Goes Places 3Impact in the Here and Now  4Writing in the "Real World" 6Expanding the Vision of Writing in School 7Classroom Closeups 8Teaching Playbook 10Student Writing 112. Getting Your Mojo 12About This Chapter: Building Confidence and Know-How for Writing That Makes an Impact 12Mojo Builder #1: Understanding the Context for Writing 12Classroom Closeup: Helping Writers Connect with Context 13Student Writing 15Mojo Builder #2: Helping Writers Come Up With Content 16Classroom Closeup: Building and Shaping Content 17Teaching Playbook 243. Writing Your Narrative 29About This Chapter: Doing Justice to Narrative 30Classroom Closeup: Letting Stories Do the Work 31Classroom Closeup: Making Narrative Sing 34Teaching Playbook 424. Writing for Poetic Effect 47About This Chapter: What Comes from Writing Poems 48Classroom Closeup: Language and Identity 49Poetry and Narrative 51Poetry or Prose or What? 53The Takeaways 54Teaching Playbook 555. Writing to Take Action 60About This Chapter: Educating for Democracy with Civic Engagement 62Classroom Closeup: Teaching Students How to Take Action 63The Role of an Advocate 63Teaching Civic Engagement Tactics 64Putting Civic Engagement Projects in Perspective 68Student Reflections 69Highs and Lows of Civic Engagement Projects 70Motivating Students to Take Action 73Teaching Playbook 766. Writing to Figure Things Out 81About This Chapter: Reflective Writing to Enhance Learning 82Classroom Closeup: Making Economics Personally Meaningful  83Figuring Things Out Through Writing in the Disciplines 87Classroom Closeup: Using Reflections to Stop and Take Stock  89Teaching Playbook  927. Writing to Think Critically 95About This Chapter: Capitalizing on Curiosity 95Classroom Closeup: The Proteus Project 97Classroom Closeup: "I Wish I'd Been There" 109Writing History 114Teaching Playbook 1178. Conclusion 126Expanding Writing Tasks and Experiences 127Getting Started 129Play the Name Game 131Last but Not Least References 133Index 139About the Authors