100 Quickwrites: Fast and Effective Freewriting Exercies that Build Students' Confidence, Develope their Fluency, and Bring Out the Writer in Every Student »

LINDA RIEF teaches 8 th grade at Oyster River Middle School in Durham, NH and is an instructor in the University of New Hampshire's Summer Literacy Institute. She is the author of Seeking Diversity: Language Arts with Adolescents (1992), Vision and Voice: Extending the Literacy Spectrum (1999), both published by Heinemann - and 100 Quickwrites (2003), published by Scholastic. For five years she co-edited with Maureen Barbieri Voices from the Middle , a journal for middle school teachers published by the National Council of Teachers of English.

A rich collection of poems and short passages, perfect for middle school. Teachers read one of the powerful pieces aloud and invite students to respond to one of the freewriting suggestions. Teachers will be amazed at what students can write in 2-3 minutes! A quick and effective way to share models of strong writing and to get students writing and thinking . . . and a great way to focus attention at the beginning of class!