Product reviews for Opening Doors to Quality Writing

The book Opening Doors to Quality Writing: Ideas for writing inspired by great writers for ages 10–13 by Bob Cox is an invaluable resource for teachers of English in primary and secondary schools. Building on the success of the companion book Opening Doors to Famous Poetry and Prose, Cox presents a wide range of prose and poetry to inspire children and activate their imaginations. There are lots of practical classroom activities geared towards the specific extracts for the teacher to choose from, and which support the children step-by-step towards quality writing. Cox has clearly drawn from his wealth of experience and knowledge of classic literature when writing this book. The addition of a glossary is also very helpful for teachers who may not be familiar with terms such as ‘zooming in’ or ‘wings to fly’. 

Senior leaders, English leaders and teachers will all find this book very helpful when planning an ambitious English curriculum for their school. They may have been searching for books, extracts or poems to challenge their pupils sufficiently and achieve mastery learning. In this book, there are no less than 15 texts to choose from. Authors include Thomas Hardy, Emily Brontë, Walter de le Mare and Emily Dickinson to name a few. There are extracts and poems that primary school teachers may have never considered presenting to their pupils before. Having taught lessons taken from other Opening Doors books by Cox, I can attest that the pupils respond amazingly. They are sometimes able to see messages and themes that I had never even considered before. One extract from this book that stood out for me was The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins as I love his mystery stories. In the ‘wings to fly’ section, it suggests that the children write the start of their own mystery story by imitating Collins and causing the reader to ‘shiver with apprehension’. The strategies in the book really support the children to write confidently and in ways they haven’t felt secure with before, such as capturing an atmosphere in a narrative. 

I would highly recommend this book to all teachers of English working with children aged 10-13. Once the Opening Doors strategies are embedded in your planning, you will be amazed at how much the children’s writing improves. It will increase their confidence with literature, their enthusiasm for writing and generally enhance your English lessons.