Harvey Smokey A. Daniels - The Best-Kept Teaching Secret: How Written Conversations Engage Kids, Activate Learning, Grow Fluent Writers, K-12

With special thanks to

Michele Timble, Burley Elementary School, Chicago, IL

Debbie King, Burley Elementary School, Chicago, IL

Sara Ahmed, The Bishops School, La Jolla, CA

Kristin Ziemke, Burley Elementary School, Chicago, IL

Brad Buhrow, Columbine Elementary School, Boulder, CO

Michelle Nash, Burley Elementary School, Chicago, IL

Nancy Steineke, Andrew High School, Tinley Park, IL

Sheridan High School, Sheridan, AR

Federal Hocking Local Schools, Stewart, OH

Disney II Magnet School, Chicago, IL

Copyright 2013 by Corwin

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Daniels, Harvey.
The best-kept teaching secret : how written conversations engage kids, activate learning, and grow fluent writers, K12 / Harvey Smokey Daniels, Elaine Daniels.

pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4522-6863-7 (pbk.)

1. English languageComposition and exercisesStudy and teaching (Elementary) 2. Letter writingStudy and teaching (Elementary) 3. Communication in education. 4. Active learning. I. Daniels, Elaine. II. Title.

LB1576.D232 2013

372.623dc23 2013021342

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

13 14 15 16 17 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Publisher: Lisa Luedeke
Development Editor: Julie Nemer
Editorial Assistant: Francesca Dutra Africano
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Acknowledgments

After 38 years of marriage and countless years of teaching, we have finally written our first book together. Why did we wait so long, given that Smokey has written 18 books in the interim? Well, we wanted to be sure the relationship would survive the perils of co-authorship. Raising kids and building a family seemed like minor dangers compared to the marital risks entailed in writing a book with a spouse. But now, the manuscript is complete, and no legal papers have been served, so we guess it worked. We should have started sooner!

Without a jumbo posse of co-conspirators, this book would not have been possible. We have been working on this, our fondest project, for more than 20 years. During that time, we developed this books strategies in our own classrooms, where, between us, we have now taught every grade from kindergarten through college, at least as guests, if not employees.

And during all that time weve also been collaborating with a big, loose network of teacher-pioneers all around the county. Weve been connected by our belief that written conversation is the single most neglected tool in our teaching repertoiresand that developing many examples and sharing them with colleagues is an entirely delicious pursuit. So above all, we thank all the teachers who tried our ideas with their kids, invited us into their classrooms, told us their teaching stories, and gave us many samples of kids work that are the core of the book.

It has been a joy to get to work with the energetic and talented Corwin crew, as they launch a brand-new line of professional books on literacy. The moment that our longtime colleague and friend Lisa Luedeke was hired to build this unique list, we voted in. Then, when marketing maven Maura Sullivan signed on, we knew the book would find its audience. And now that we have gotten to know Editorial Director Lisa Shaw and CEO Mike Soules, we know we are joining a team with a vision for the future of teaching firmly in mind.

Thanks to everyone who makes our work such a pleasure.

Smokey and Elaine Daniels

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Dear Colleagues,

We are Smokey and Elaine Daniels, a couple of longtime teachers. We have taught kids of all ages, and in many regions of the United States, for more decades than we care to admit. And right now, we want to share our single best teaching strategy with you.

This book is about a close-knit family of teaching and learning structures that changed our classrooms in very big ways. In fact, this is the single most important teaching idea we have ever learned. And we use it every single school day to structure powerful interactions among our students.

The core idea here is written conversationa wide variety of letter types including handwritten notes, emails, dialogue journals, write-arounds, silent literature circles, collaborative annotation, threaded discussions, blogs, text messages, tweets, and more. We use these special writing activities to conduct a huge range of learning activities with our students. Year in and year out, the kids tell us this is one of their favorite ways to work, think, and interact with each other.

We know what youre thinking: Hmmm, this sounds like a kind of small idea. Everyone thinks that before they try it. But were going to prove to you that lettersvery broadly definedare the single most neglected tool in our teaching repertoires. Here are some benefits this powerful genre of writing offers for your classroom.