Keys to Inspiration

Student-centered instruction is the buzzword among today’s educators, yet the teaching of writing is still very top-down. Student-centered should mean student-inspired, and that’s where Keys to Inspiration comes in. The path to a writer’s truth always starts with an emotion, and almost all forms of writing contain at least a trace of emotional DNA. This book shows teachers how to align emotion with subject matter, and it offers them lessons and projects (from challenging writing exercises to larger projects, such as memoir, research reports, and editorials) that resonate with young authors. While Keys to Inspiration focuses sharply on content, it contains an instructive mechanics section and an Appendix of unique word lists (emotion-related words, themed spelling lists, and alternatives to “went” and “said,” to name a few), as well as a few grammar worksheets. Once motivated, young authors must learn to describe with detail, meddle with metaphor, and mind their mechanics. Veteran writing instructor Steve Ford offers many lessons and exercises that will polish students’ narrative skills, and he alerts teachers to the common spelling, punctuation, and grammar mistakes that young writers need to learn to avoid.

What sets Steve Ford’s book apart is that he unpacks the mystery of motivation. He shows us that when students journey to their emotional center, inspiration follows, and students write. Buckle up as Steve takes us on a genre-writing journey, entertaining us along the way!, With eloquence and deftness, Steve Ford offers educators a compelling approach to teaching composition—writing from the heart. As a parent whose four children experienced Steve Ford first-hand, I recommend this winsome writer and his wonderful book., Like Steve Ford, I believe strongly that writing leads to self-awareness, and that writing belongs in every discipline. These beliefs were the foundation of my literacy courses over the years, and they’re reflected throughout Keys to Inspiration. I wish this powerful book, full of inspirational lessons and projects, had been available to the future teachers in my classrooms., Mr. Ford understood the fundamental truth that good writing comes from raw emotion. Be it poetry or a play, he cultivated the inner writer in each of us. Too many writing teachers focus on the mechanics of language and forget why we write in the first place: to express ourselves. Instead of starting out with the "what?" Mr. Ford begins by asking young writers the far more interesting question: "Why?", Ford, a former sixth grade writing teacher, has developed a writing program filled with ideas and lessons that have succeeded in his classroom . . . librarians will appreciate Ford’s passion for lessons that encourage students to develop their own voice.

Steve Ford had a great run as a sixth-grade writing specialist with the Saint Paul Public Schools. Starting out, he had no curriculum—only a passion for writing and teaching—but after months of researching pedagogical scholarship and experimenting with his students, he came up with his own unique brand of writing instruction, which has formed the basis of Keys to Inspiration. To learn more about Steve Ford, please check out www.stevefordwriting.com.