NEW!
Pyrotechnics on the Page
Playful Craft That Sparks Writing
Ralph Fletcher
$19.00  Pre-Order Here

With Pyrotechnics on the Page, Ralph is poised to teach so many of us once again in a whole new way, and we're going to have a grand 'ole time learning what it is he wants to teach us about playing with language.
– Katie Wood Ray, from Foreword

Writers in every field play with words each time they sit down at their desks.
In his newest book, Ralph Fletcher demonstrates how playful craft can energize student writing and breathe new energy into the writing workshop.

Children have a natural affinity for language play; Pyrotechnics on the Page demonstrates how writing teachers can tap into it. This book provides a wealth of resources for teachers:
* Information on the roots and developmental importance of language
play;
* A how-to on using the writer's notebook as a playground for
students to explore and experiment with verbal pyrotechnics;
* An in-depth look at the kind of language play commonly used by
writers, including chapters on Puns and Double Meanings, Idioms
and Expressions, Inventing Words, and Harnessing the Supple Power
of Sentences (these chapters end with a “Bringing It to the
Writing Workshop” section that includes explicit classroom
connections);
* Twenty-four brand new craft lessons to bring pyrotechnics into the
classroom
* An extensive bibliography of relevant mentor texts that make it
easy to model language play for students

Pyrotechnics on the Page is vintage Fletcher: personal, anecdotal, and practical. It represents the latest chapter in Ralph's efforts to widen the circle in the writing classroom, make it a more engaging place for student writers and, in the process, lift the quality of their writing.

Ralph Fletcher Interview
about Boy Writers on
the NH Public Radio Program,
The Front Porch.