Using Mentor Texts to Teach Writing with the Traits: Middle School - Softcover

James Blasingame is an associate professor of English at Arizona State University where he specializes in young adult literature and the teaching of writing. He is also the 2010 president of NCTE&;s Assembly on Literature for Adolescents (ALAN). Prior to joining the university, Jim spent many years as a high school teacher and administrator. In addition to teaching, he writes extensively. He is the author of Books That Don&;t Bore &;Em: Young Adult Books That Speak to This Generation (Scholastic, 2007), creates the Books for Adolescents pages for each issue of the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literature, and was coeditor of the ALAN Review. He also blogs about young adult literature for the Washington Post.

Raymond Coutu has been developing, producing, and promoting professional materials for teachers for more than 20 years, first for Houghton Mifflin, then Heinemann, and currently Scholastic. He has also served as an editor on Instructor magazine, written books for children, and tutored children in reading and writing. He is the coauthor, with Ruth Culham, of the best-selling Using Picture Books to Teach Writing With the Traits: K&;2, Getting Started With the Traits: K&;2, and Getting Started With the Traits: 3&;5, all published by Scholastic.