Creating Opportunities For Kids To Publish /Share Their Writing Is Important

A recent question from a teacher prompted me to think more deeply about publishing student writing . She was searching for professional reading that dealt more deeply with the publishing phase of the writing process. My own search revealed that many of the available texts deal more comprehensively with the lead up (revision, editing) to publishing than publishing itself. It doesn’t seem to get the attention that it deserves. Publishing and all it entails is only lightly explored in many professional texts. I have always believed that when the young writer reaches this important stage of the process, a wonderful opportunity exists for empowering the writer to make some really important decisions concerning the shape and form of the final product. I had to go back to one of my earliest books on writing- ‘ Writing, Teachers and Children at Work ’, Donald Graves , to find any meaty detail surrounding this part of the process. Reading Graves’ words was like...