Teachers and librarians, see my special packet showing the step-by-step writing and publishing process. In this free download, students will be able to see real examples of brainstorming, drafts, research, revising, and more. Teaching guide with Common Core standards is also available.
Our Teacher is a Vampire And Other (Not) True Stories is the collaborative writing journal of a classroom full of students trying to write a story. This book provides great opportunities for lessons on character traits, reading with expression, and understanding how point of view works.
Got a letter yesterday from a boy in a residential juvenile detention facility, another word for jail. He wrote to say how much he enjoyed Invisible Lines, a book that deals with some of the tough issues that I’m sure this boy has had to face. The most touching part of the letter for me was his revelation of his favorite scene: the scene in the book where the science teacher takes the kids outside and has them get down on the grass and pretend to be mycelial threads in an ecosystem. This is my favorite scene in the book, too! It’s a scene that initially frustrated me because it was flat on the page in my early drafts. So in the revision process I actually went outside and stretched out on the grass and pretended that I was my main character. When I did this, I had some emotional revelations that gave me what I needed to really and truly see the scene through my character’s eyes.
Reading 
