Books by Penny Kittle
Books by Penny Kittle are published by
Heinemann, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and available through the publisher's website.
Micro Mentor Texts: Using Short Passages From Great Books to Teach Writer’s Craft (2022) By Penny Kittle
At a time when students’ attention is being pulled in many directions, writing expert Penny Kittle shows us the power of helping them to focus in and communicate clearly. She does that through the study of "micro mentor texts," excerpts from acclaimed books, and the decisions authors make to craft those texts so they deeply engage readers. Her book includes dozens of short texts and mini-lessons based on them-as well as many practice opportunities for students and demonstration videos for you.
4 Essential Studies: Beliefs and Practices to Reclaim Student Agency (2021) By Penny Kittle & Kelly Gallagher
Essay. Poetry. Book Clubs. Digital Composition. Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher extend their work in 180 Days: Two Teachers and the Quest to Engage and Empower Adolescents by taking a deep dive into four essential studies. Their aim is to move beyond compliance and formula, and to develop students’ agency, independence, and decision-making skills. These four practices, they argue, have the power to transform students’ relationship with literacy—and truly prepare them for the more demanding work of college. A central belief underlies each of the four studies—that composing involves choosing, picking among options. It is not following a pre-set pattern. But if students are to make these choices, they need to be aware of the moves and possibilities open to them. That’s what this book does—it shows how teacher demonstrations, the skillful use of mentor texts, effective feedback (and many other tools) can make choices possible. By reimagining how we teach essay, poetry, book clubs, and digital composition, we can open the door to more engaged, connected, and challenging learning.
180 DAYS: Two Teachers and the Quest to Engage and Empower Adolescents (2018) By Kelly Gallagher & Penny Kittle
180 Days represents the collaboration of two master teachers—Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle—over an entire school year: planning, teaching, and reflecting within their own and each other’s classrooms in California and New Hampshire. Inspired by a teacher’s question, “How do you fit it all in?” they identified and prioritized the daily, essential, belief-based practices that are worth spending time on. They asked, “Who will these students be as readers and writers after a year under our care?”
Read an overview, a sample chapter and learn about professional development resources on the publisher's website.
Book Love: Developing Depth, Stamina, and Passion in Adolescent Readers (2013) 
In Book Love Penny takes student apathy head on, first by recognizing why students don’t read and then showing us that when we give kids books that are right for them, along with time to read and regular response to their thinking, we can create a pathway to satisfying reading that leads to more challenging literature and ultimately, a love of reading.
Read an overview, a sample chapter and learn about professional development resources on the publisher's website.
Children Want to Write: Donald Graves and the Revolution in Children's Writing (Edited by Thomas Newkirk and Penny Kittle, 2013) 
This collection of Donald Graves' most significant writings is paired with recovered videotapes that illuminate his research and his inspiring work with teachers. See the earliest documented use of invented spelling, the earliest attempts to guide young children through a writing process, the earliest conferences. The collection allows you to see this revolutionary shift in writing instruction—with its emphasis on observation, reflection, and approaching children as writers.
Read an overview, a sample chapter, and learn about professional development resources on the publisher's website.
Write Beside Them: Risk, Voice, and Clarity in High School Writing (2008) 
Winner of the 2009 James N. Britton Award from the Conference on English Education
What makes the single biggest difference to student writers? When the invisible machinery of your writing processes is made visible to them. Write Beside Them shows you how to do it. It’s the comprehensive book and DVD that English/language arts teachers need to ensure that teens improve their writing.
Read Penny's James N. Britton Award acceptance speech.
Read an overview, a sample chapter, and learn about companion resources and professional development resources on the publisher's website.
Inside Writing: How to Teach the Details of Craft (co-authored with Donald Graves, 2005) 
Graves and Kittle show you the power behind an apprenticeship approach to writing instruction where you mentor students using your own writing-even if you don't consider yourself a writer. Inside Writing is a practical, flexible three-part program that gives you numerous entryways for learning how to model the central elements of the craft.
Read an overview, a sample chapter and learn about professional development resources on the publisher's website.
My Quick Writes For Inside Writing (With Donald Graves, 2005) 
Part writer's notebook and part sourcebook, My Quick Writes includes more than sixty of Donald Graves' favorite and most effective prompts for practicing and reflecting on your own writing processes. Graves and Penny Kittle walk you through how to do Quick Writes and the role they play in their own writing and teaching.
Read an overview, a sample chapter and learn about professional development resources on the publisher's website.
The Greatest Catch: A Life in Teaching (2005) 
More than a teaching memoir, The Greatest Catch is a close-up look at how to teach powerful lessons and how to learn powerful lessons from teaching—especially from teaching writing. Kittle teaches her students that writing is a tool for developing their intellectual, academic, and emotional selves, and in these essays, she shows how both she and her students' lives have been profoundly influenced by writing.
Read an overview, a sample chapter and learn about professional development resources on the publisher's website.
Public Teaching: One Kid at a Time (2003) 
With this captivating collection of 19 essays, Penny takes us straight from her classroom to our own hearts. Penny wrests from the teacher's life—its trials and triumphs, frustration, fury, and fun—all the emotional data that opens up her mind to good, solid instruction. It also frees her, making her ever-willing to lay herself open to her students. She writes with them, seeks their help, and teaches them by example—showing them exactly what the function of writing is, and how to think, understand, and read differently as writers themselves.
Read an overview, a sample chapter and learn about professional development resources on the publisher's website.
NCTE Voices from the Middle
Penny was a columnist for Voices from the Middle, an NCTE publication, for six years. Articles and podcasts are available on the NCTE website.
Chapter Contributions by Penny Kittle
Lessons from a Writer's Life: Readings and Resources for Teachers and Students (By Judith Ortiz Cofer with Teaching Ideas by Harvey "Smokey" Daniels, Penny Kittle, and Carol Jago, 2011)
Young-adult novelist Judith Ortiz Cofer engages grade 6–12 students with stories and poems drawn from her childhood in Puerto Rico and her self-invention as an American writer and teacher.
Read an overview, contents, a sample chapter, and learn about companion resources on the publisher's website.
Adolescent Literacy: Turning Promise into Practice (Kylene Beers, Edited by Robert E. Probst and Linda Rief, 2007) 
Includes "The Importance of Choice" by Penny Kittle.
Read an overview, contents, a sample chapter, and learn about companion resources on the publisher's website.
