Shoes and Boxes and Peanuts and Keys: Using Objects to Find Joy in Writing

If I want to get good writing from students, any students, I need to give them an object-something they can touch or hold or see. There is something almost magical about writing when a physical object is involved. Some of the best writing I have received from students has come from peanuts, acorns, shoes, stones, sticks, keys, boxes, or pictures. As writers, we need to engage our senses to make our writing real. Something happens when multiple parts of the brain engage in the writing proces...