A new emphasis in this edition of Spark the Brain, Ignite the Pen is writing to learn in the content areas. This edition of the work first published in 2006 includes a collection of classroom-tested quick writes designed to assist students in thinking and writing about significant content in the disciplines. Contributors to the book teach a wide array of grade levels (K through college) and subject areas e.g., English, social studies, math, science and health), and the quick writes included in the book are ideal for use in a variety of classroom subjects and settings. Given the current research validating the impact of using writing tasks to learn content, this volume should be useful to a wide range of teachers, teacher educators, and professional development trainers K-12.

Contributors to the book teach a wide array of grade levels (K through college) and subject areas (e.g., English, social studies, math, science and health), and the quick writes included in the book are ideal for use in a variety of classroom subjects and settings. We believe that the book will find an extremely receptive audience among K-12 teachers, teacher educators preparing future teachers, and teachers and trainers of trainers involved in inservice programs and summer writing institutes. Many published resources offer lists of writing topics for classroom use; however, they lack the pedagogical approach that informs the quick write concept. Although one published quick write resource offers literary prompts for grades 5-12, we know of no other book that provides such varied examples of this particular strategy, particularly our inclusion of a wide variety of "stimuli" (versus the common and sole use of literary texts), and their use for a wide array of content areas (versus the usual and sole focus of English/Language Arts).

A new emphasis in this edition of Spark the Brain, Ignite the Pen is writing to learn in the content areas. This edition of the work first published in 2006 includes a collection of classroom-tested quick writes designed to assist students in thinking and writing about significant content in the disciplines. Contributors to the book teach a wide array of grade levels (K through college) and subject areas e.g., English, social studies, math, science and health), and the quick writes included in the book are ideal for use in a variety of classroom subjects and settings. Given the current research validating the impact of using writing tasks to learn content, this volume should be useful to a wide range of teachers, teacher educators, and professional development trainers K-12.

Contributors to the book teach a wide array of grade levels (K through college) and subject areas (e.g., English, social studies, math, science and health), and the quick writes included in the book are ideal for use in a variety of classroom subjects and settings. We believe that the book will find an extremely receptive audience among K-12 teachers, teacher educators preparing future teachers, and teachers and trainers of trainers involved in inservice programs and summer writing institutes. Many published resources offer lists of writing topics for classroom use; however, they lack the pedagogical approach that informs the quick write concept. Although one published quick write resource offers literary prompts for grades 5-12, we know of no other book that provides such varied examples of this particular strategy, particularly our inclusion of a wide variety of ""stimuli"" (versus the common and sole use of literary texts), and their use for a wide array of content areas (versus the usual and sole focus of English/Language Arts).