Place-Based Writing in Action

This text presents a variety of ways for students to meet traditional instructional goals in writing while also learning how writing can help them become stewards of the natural world and advocates for their own communities. Built on a foundation of emerging research and theory and grounded in the lived reality of teachers, this book explores the material and virtual worlds as places that can be equally productive as sources for authentic writing. Readers will find place-based writing activities, lesson ideas, and samples of student work in every chapter. With practical and classroom-tested ideas, Place-Based Writing in Action is a useful text for preservice and in-service English teachers, as well as any educator who wants to move the act of writing beyond the four walls of the classroom.

Rob Montgomery is Professor of English and English Education at Kennesaw State University. He has worked with the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project and the Georgia Film Academy. Rob is also the co-author of A Place to Write: Getting Your Students Out of the Classroom and Into the World (2021). Amanda Montgomery is a teacher at Park Street Elementary School in Marietta, Georgia. She works with the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project and is also the co-author of A Place to Write: Getting Your Students Out of the Classroom and Into the World (2021).

Contributor Biographies Acknowledgements Chapter 1: An Introduction to Place-Based Writing: Getting Authentic by Getting Out of the Classroom Part I: Meaningful Encounters with the Great Outdoors Chapter 2: Writing the Ecology of the Ozarks Chapter 3: Exploring Interconnections with the Living World through Nature Journaling Chapter 4: Mapping through Justice, through Padlet, and through the World Chapter 5: Observing Nature, Observing Language: Using Nature to Teach Rhetorical Grammar Part II: Finding the Intersection Between Community, History, and Self Chapter 6: Teaching the Tulsa Race Massacre (and Other Hidden Histories) Using Poetry, Photography, and Place Chapter 7: The Sustainable Resource Project: Writing Toward Agency Chapter 8: Where do Mountain Goats Sleep? Bringing Place-Based Collaborative Journaling Out of the Woods and into (and Beyond) the Classroom Chapter 9: Making Connections to the Past: Using Place-Based Writing to Bring History to Life Part III: Writing about Art and Writing as Art Chapter 10: Finding Your Truth: Reimagining School Spaces for Student Writing and Publication Through Interactive Public Art Chapter 11: Using Memory as an Activator for Exploration and Creation Chapter 12: Combining Voices: Merging Art and Writing through Place-Based Principles Part IV: Using Digital Tools to Bring the Outside World Into the Classroom Chapter 13: Into the Metaverse: Using Virtual Reality as a Site for Place-Based Writing Chapter 14: Stories of Our Community: Podcasting for Place-Based Inquiry Chapter 15: Touring the Place You Know Best: Virtual Tours as a Way to Teach Narrative, Argument, and Research Writing