|
|
Great Resources for Busy Teachers
|
|
Great Resources for Busy Teachers |
|
|
Six Traits Writing Workshop Ideas Organization Word Choice Sentence Fluency Voice Conventions THE TRAIT OF IDEAS Ideas are the heart of writing. If given the opportunity, children will ask an author where they get their ideas, and author's will answer - from everywhere. We must teach children to tune in to their world and open up their eyes and ears. Ideas can come from life experiences, family stories, books, news events, art, music, tidbits of conversation, and many other places. The picture books listed here are excellent resources for helping children to discover ideas for their own writing. It's always a good idea to discuss where an author might have gotten their ideas after reading a book. Anytime you have a chance to make a note of where an author got their idea (sometimes they tell you on their website or when they present or in interviews) to share with the children. Children can keep "idea" lists in their writer's notebooks. You can make an "idea" box for children to utilize when they are fresh out of ideas. Try to help children understand that there are not any new topics, only fresh ways of exploring the topic. One way to teach ideas is to read a lot of books on one theme and discuss how each author wrote about the same thing but in a different way. The following books support teaching the trait of ideas.
Writing About Family
Reading texts with similar themes allows students to make text to text connections; to compare and contrast characters, settings, plots, and ideas; and to generate writing ideas through common experiences. Family stories, traditions and histories are wonderful examples of how to pull what you know into your writing. Teach children to listen to stories passed along through oral tradition and put those stories on paper. Help children to realize the writing potential of all of the stories that they want to tell about in class. Keepers by Jeri Hanel Watts and Felicia Marshall (grandparents; recording memories) Night Tree by Eve Bunting (family tradition) My Great-Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston (recording family history) Love You Forever by Robert
Munsch (mother’s love) *heart sticker My Grandpa and the Sea by Katherine Orr (grandparents) *small seashell My Ol’ Man by Patricia Polacco (father) Abuela by Arthur Doros Aunt Flossie’s Hats by Elizabeth Howard Writing About Friends Friends are an important part of children’s lives. Exploring friendship through picture books is an excellent way to support needed social skills. Friendships are a rich source of stories for children. Best Friends by Steven Kellogg Writing About School Children know about school. It's a major part of their lives. They all have school experiences. Writing about school is a natural topic. We Share Everything by Robert Munsch
Writing About Secrets
For children, secrets are fun. Writing about secrets can bring out the creativity in kids. Dreaming up secrets allows their imaginations to free up and their writing to soar. Barn Dance by Bill Martin Jr. The Wise Woman and Her Secret by Eve Merriam The Secret Knowledge of Grownups by David Wiesner Writing About Memories Everyone has memories. Memories (especially childhood memories) are rich resources for writer. Children can learn to tap into their memories (and the memories of parents and grandparents) for lots of wonderful writing ideas. The Memory Box Keepers by Jeri Hanel Watts and Felicia Marshall The Hundred Penny Box
by Sharon Bell Mathis *new penny Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge
by Mem Fox When I Was Young In the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant Writing About Adventures Children love adventures and tend to have great imaginations. Let their imaginations soar and allow them to write their own adventures. Weslandia by Paul Fleishman Using Your Imagination
In a day and time of high doses of t.v., game stations and the Internet, some children have learned to rely on outward visual sources for their imaginative wonderings. They never learned that mud is cake and a porch is a stage. For children who need lessons in play, read aloud these wonderfully imaginative picture books. Mud Is Cake by Pam Munoz Ryan The Magic Hat by Mem Fox Cook-A-Doodle-Do by Janet and
Susan Stevens How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Mark Teague
This website is designed and maintained by Effective Teaching Solutions. Copyright © 2008. All rights reserved. All content and graphics located throughout this website should not be removed. These graphics are for personal use only. Under no circumstances should any part of this website be copied, downloaded, or publicly presented without the express consent and written permission of Effective Teaching Solutions. Visitors who choose not to respect copyright laws will be reported to the proper authorities and may face prosecution. This is NOT public domain. Any advertisements or pop-ups that may appear on this site are not endorsed by ETS.
|
by Patricia
MacClachlan Use this
book as a springboard for writing about favorite
places.
by Marissa Moss Students
can follow Amelia's example and keep their own
notebooks.
by Lynne Cherry Follow this armadillo's adventure
and then make up an adventure of your own. 
by Joan Lowry Nixon This wonderful book is a great way
to introduce your students to the trait of ideas. 
by Patricia Polacco Family stories provide powerful
writing ideas. 
by Byrd Baylor This book will inspire students to
search for a special rock and write about it. 
by Byrd Baylor Students can create and write
about their very own celebratio 
by Margaret Wise Brown This book provides a classic writing
pattern. Students can use the pattern in countless ways. They can write about
themselves, a math concept, science subject or any others that you can dream up. 
by Chris Van Allsburg Let Van Allsburg's artwork inspire
your students to write fascinating stories. The pictures are also available in
poster size. 
by Cynthia Rylant Grandparents can be an great source of inspiration
for student's writing. Rylant's books always provide
wonderful ideas to get students moving along. 
by Cynthia Rylant This is one of the most popular
books for teaching the trait of ideas. Students can pick a place that is special
to them to write about after being inspired by this wonderful story.
by Cynthia Rylant Everyone
has relatives, and each child's visits with family
is unique and interesting. This book provides the
perfect setting for getting creative juices flowing.
by Eve Bunting Family traditions make for powerful
story ideas. This beautiful account of a family tradition provides the right mix
to get students thinking about their own traditions - real or wishful.
by Mem Fox Objects
are a source of strong emotions and memory. In this
precious story, a child helps trigger the memories
of an old lady in an nursing home. Students can
bring in objects and write about their memories.
by Patricia MacLachlan Here is
another wonderful book for exploring wonderful
places that you love, noticing the small things and
dealing with moving. It's a rich book chalked full
of writing inspiration.
by Kevin Henkes
by Kevin Henkes Worrying is human nature. Students
can write stories about their own worries after reading Wemberly Worried.
by Rob Gonsalves The art in this book is amazing.
Artist Rob Gonsalves rivals Van Allsburg in creativity and provides young
writers with rich illustrations to weave stories upon.
by Roni Schotter Do your students claim they
have nothing to write about? Then this is the perfect book to show your writers
that stories are all around them.
by Stacey Schuett If you
think about all of the things that are going on in
the world right at this moment, then you are opening
your mind up to the millions of stories ideas, and
countless possibilities.
by Charles G. Shaw This is a classic for inspiring
primary writers. Students can create their own "spilt milk" pictures and write
about them.
by Janet S. Wong Don't miss out on this gem. Wong
creates poetry that sings while showing children how to empower their minds and
spark their writing ideas.