Mastering the Art of Teaching Timed Writing: The Case of the Backyard Mystery Portfolio

Mastering the Art of Teaching Timed Writing: The Case of the Backyard Mystery Portfolio  incorporates the use of writing portfolios, writers' workshops, and the preparation for timed writing assessments. It is in the form of a informal interest inventory about students' lives and experiences. It is a complete teaching of writing tool, based on the tenants of the National Writing Project (NWP).  Dr. Meg G. DeMakas' dissertation topic at Loyola University Chicago (2008) was the study of the Northwest Indiana Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project. Along with her considerable experience as a reading/writing teacher, classroom teacher, and professor and her subsequent development of the writing/reading portfolio, her experience as an outside researcher and site facilitator pumped up the validity and reliability of Mastering the Art of Teaching Timed Writing: The Case of the Backyard Mystery Portfolio. There are five mentor texts that clarify writing themes in the book which Dr. DeMakas wrote and illustrated.  They are: How the Wellswood Cat Came to Be; Jeb Joins the Circus; Captain Jeb, Pirate Cat; Queen of the Limberlost: The Gene Stratton Porter Story (As Told by Her Animals); and The Big Meow. The books are availaable in Spanish.