“Reading is the inhale and writing is the exhale,” says Donalyn Miller, aka “The Book Whisperer”, a teacher-consultant with the North Star of Texas Writing Project. Miller is the author of The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child, and was the keynote speaker at the  2011 National Writing Project annual meeting. A 6th grade language arts teacher at ISD’s Trinity Meadows Intermediate School in Texas, Miller says she has yet to meet a child she couldn’t turn into a reader. No matter how far behind her students might be when they reach her 6th grade classroom, they end up reading an average of 40 to 50 books a year. Miller’s unconventional approach dispenses with drills and worksheets that make reading a chore. Instead, she helps students navigate the world of literature and gives them time to read books they pick out themselves. Her love of books and teaching is both infectious and inspiring. The book includes a dynamite list of recommended “kid lit” that helps parents and teachers find the books that students really like to read.  Miller is a prolific tweeter and blogger; you can read her blog here http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/follow and her twitter posts here: @donalynbooks

Donalyn Miller