Book excerpt: A Guide to Organizational Strategies for Thinking and Writing offers teachers and students ten patterns for arranging ideas that will expand their repertoire of organizational skills. Each pattern is illustrated by passages that model the strategy, and each is accompanied by an assignment that invites application and practice. Models that encompass a wide range of subjects—literature, history, science, mathematics—are provided for students in the early grades, in middle school, and in high school or college. Teachers will find the first part of the book helpful in planning writing instruction, not just for language arts but for any subject that requires English exposition. Students, from emerging to accomplished writers, will benefit from reading the passages and completing the assignments. The strategies include six basic approaches—chronological, spatial, topical, comparison, contrast, comparison contrast—and four less well-known patterns—traditional narrative, point counterpoint, question-answer, and extended analogy. The book concludes with a lesson in modeling rhythm and rhyme in poetry. Some other key features of this book include: •Ready-to-use assignments •A bonus lesson on modeling rhythm and rhyme •Leads to additional resources •An introduction to modeling prose passages