The Missouri Reader Vol. 41, Issue 2 | Page 6

The Missouri Reader

• Is YOUR teacher magazine

• Is a peer reviewed professional journal

• Has been publishing for over 40 years

• Has articles on the latest literacy issues

Want to submit an article? See the last page for details about submissions. We especially welcome joint articles by teachers & professors collaborating on literacy projects. We try publish articles that will help teachers with their everyday teaching. We want to help you become that teacher we all wish we had had when we were in school.

Almost 25 years ago now, I had an assignment for a graduate reading course to write and submit a manuscript for an article to the state reading journal, The Missouri Reader. I was so worried about the assignment that I stayed after class one night and told my professor that as a fairly new teacher, I had no earthly idea what I could write about. She asked me some questions about things I did in my fifth and sixth grade split classroom related to reading instruction, and at one point she stopped me and said, that’s it—write about that. It was nothing new or earth shattering, but it was an idea that worked for me in my classroom. That’s all that mattered.

As our most famous Missouri writer, Mark Twain, is credited with saying, write what you know. And no one knows our classrooms and our students like we do. When we write about ideas that have worked in our own classrooms, we are writing about what we know.

If the idea of writing an article for The Missouri Reader has tickled your mind, you might begin by looking at the Call for Manuscripts to see the types of articles they want. They have many topics they want articles about, so it’s not too difficult to find one that fits you.

Read the Call for Manuscripts

The Call for Manuscripts is on the last page of this journal and posted on The Missouri Reader website under The Missouri Reader tab (http://missourireading.org/call-for-manuscripts/ ) asks for articles on the following nine different topics. But they also say you can submit topics that don’t fit into one of those categories if it is a topic of interest to their readership.

Resourceful Research. Scholarly articles and field research (5-10 pages).

Classroom Close-up. Glimpses into the results of strategy implementation and literacy activities in the classroom (1-2 pages).

Content Contribution. Integrating literacy into content area instruction and other areas such as music, art, PE, and special education (3-5 pages).

Tech Talk. Share ways to utilize technology to enhance literacy learning (2-4 pages)

All About Apps. Reviews of apps used for literacy-focused projects and activities; See All About Apps review criteria.

Lit Look. Share how best to utilize literature in the classroom and beyond (2-4 pages)

Book Bundle. Reviews of children’s books and young adult literature; See Book Bundle review criteria.

Collaboration Collection. Ways to collaborate with families and community members to take literacy learning beyond the classroom (1-3 pages).

Read the Latest Issue

After thinking about topics you would like to write about, take a look at the most recent journal to see the style of the journal and what other teachers are writing about: For example, in the Spring 2017 issue, Kathy Scales provides many research-based and practical ideas for how to help students with fluency. Amy Finkle talks about how she uses read alouds and how that impacts her students’ learning. There are book reviews and app reviews and ideas for how to use technology more effectively. This journal is by teachers and for teachers. It is a place to learn new research-based ways to make reading and writing more meaningful for our students.

Decide about Collaborative Writing or Solo Writing

Whether you choose to write with others or write alone, writing an article is a rewarding and fulfilling process. There are dvantages and disadvantages to both ways.

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Writing for The

Missouri Reader

By

Beth Hurst

Writing for the