Rebecca G. Harper, Ph.D. is an associate professor of literacy at Augusta University.  She has served as an invited speaker and keynote for a variety of literacy conferences and has delivered literacy professional development sessions across the country. Her research interests include sociocultural theory and critical literacy and content and disciplinary literacy. She resides in Aiken, SC with her husband, Will, and children, Amelia, Macy Belle, and Vin.

Student Writers Go the Distance with a Strength-Training Approach

Good writers don't wing it-they have a plethora of skills. They list, picture, circle, strategize and revise to make language come alive. They know what to use and when. Like ace athletes, they are highly trained, well-versed in the techniques found in this lively book.

Writing Workouts provides a method for instruction that gives students the fun they want and the targeted skill practice they need. Slinky paragraphs, pop-up poems, paint chip plotting, and many other activities get the serious business of teaching critical and creative writing done. Author Rebecca Harper shows you how to go about it systematically, so writing is tied to relevant lessons and writing standards. Help students learn to:

• Hone skills in persuasive writing, argument, fiction, poetry, memoir and more


• Toggle between brief and multi-step writing tasks, to build stamina (and not hyperventilate when faced with complex compositions)


• Tap into auditory, visual, and kinesthetic, and digital components of crafting


• Think about word, sentence, and paragraph-level techniques


• Jump the high-jumps of research writing by getting good at each smaller leap

Students in middle school and high school often feel they are forever-sprinting toward a high-stakes writing task. With Writing Workouts, you help students crowd out stress with a strength-training approach to success.

Chapter 1 - Writing Fitness
Chapter 2 - Writing Warmups
Chapter 3 - Targeted Training
Chapter 4 - High Intensity Training
Chapter 5 - Cold Starts and Cool Down
Chapter 6 - Rest, Recover, Revise
Chapter 7 - Stretch Day
Chapter 8 - Balanced Literacy Diet
References