Paula Bourque

Paula Bourque is a K–8 literacy coach and mentor based in Augusta, Maine, with nearly three decades of experience in education, including roles as a classroom teacher, Reading Recovery teacher, literacy interventionist, and adjunct professor. Her work focuses on helping young writers and readers develop agency, stamina, and a strong sense of identity as learners.

She is the author of Close Writing: Developing Purposeful Writers in Grades 2–6, a professional resource that promotes “close writing” through mindful rereading, reflection, and revision, and has been widely used in elementary writing classrooms. Bourque also wrote SPARK!: Quick Writes to Kindle Hearts and Minds in Elementary Classrooms, which introduces short, low-stakes “quick writes” designed to boost K–6 students’ volume of writing while fostering creativity, reflection, and social-emotional growth.