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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In order to organize
writing effectively, children must learn narrative and expository text
structures. In both structures, readers will encounter leads (the first
sentence(s), paragraph(s) or chapter that sets up the story and draws the
reader in); sequence (the order of events); transitions (sentence to
sentence and paragraph to paragraph progression); and conclusions
(satisfying endings). Students can learn to organize their writing by
mimicking picture book text structures, applying story structure to wordless
picture books, studying expository structures and applying it by writing on
topics they know, and practice sequencing their sentences and paragraphs
together. Most writers tend to make lists. It's rare that a writer uses a
graphic organizer. Organizers have their place, but once a child knows an
organizer, they should be able to choose whether they need it or not (or
choose which organizer works best for them).
The Important Book
by Margaret Wise Brown
Alexander and the Terrible,
Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst
Fortunately by Remy Charlip
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
by Laura Numeroff
The Mysteries of Harris
Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg
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
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.
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.
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
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.
Creating mental pictures in the mind of the reader is the writer's
art, and using sensory images are the tools. Children need to learn
how to open up their senses and create word pictures using their
senses. Poetry is one way to explore sense, and the use of picture
books that use lots of sensory images is another model to follow.
It has been said that writers should write what they know. A
personal narrative focuses on a clear moment in time when a person
has had an experience that can be told in story form. A personal
narrative has all of the elements of a story, but it's usually a
real experience.
The Art Lesson by Tomie de Paola
Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
Chicken Soup for the Kid’s Soul
by Jack Canfield (This book is loaded with short, personal narratives.)
No longer do children have to read and write "encyclopedia" type
articles. Today's nonfiction for children is loaded with poetic
language, uses narrative elements and creates strong mental pictures
in the reader's mind. This list is of exemplary nonfiction that is
worth exploring.
Every word in a picture book must be precise. The text is
condensed, but not dense. It must be rich and create strong mental
images in the reader's mind. A good story is filled with strong
sensory images and uses figurative language effectively. The books
listed here are fine examples of word choice.
Voice is sound of the writing. It's like music on a page and every
song has it's own unique rhythm. Voice is active or passive. Good
writers work towards owning an active voice. Verbs are the
powerhouse of voice. Voice happens when the sensory images,
figurative language and the sentences flow together with a certain
beat. Think of it not as the writer's voice, but the voice of the
piece. Search for humorous voices, uppity voices, whiny voices,
tense voices, happy voices, mad voices, etc. Reading aloud with
expression is the most effective way to "teach" voice.
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very
Bad Day
by Judith Viorst (pouty/whiny voice)
Amber on the Mountain
by Tony Johnston (country voice)
Some sentences are short and some sentences are long. Sentences
flow together and when you read aloud, there is a smoothness to the sound
of your voice. You are not tripping over awkward words or phrases. Think
of sentence fluency as a flowing river. Some places on the river are
smooth as glass. Other places along the river ripple and roll. And still,
other places along the river rush and foam. There are many twist, turns
and waterfalls along a river's path, and of course, every river's
destination is the ocean. There are lots of twist and turns along a story
path, and of course, every story's destination is a satisfying conclusion.
Sentences are like the river - they take you to the ocean.
Flower
Garden
by Eve Bunting
Time
for Bed by Mem Fox
Wombat
Divine by Mem Fox
A
Night in the Country by Cynthia Rylant
Barn
Dance by Bill Martin, Jr.
Everybody
Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor
Stopping
By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost; Illustrated by Susan
Jeffers
Conventions equals capitalization, usage, punctuation and spelling
(or C.U.P.S.). Conventions are important and certainly shouldn't take a
back seat, however, content must come first. Conventions are
developmental and we should continually work to reinforce the use of
good conventions. Conventions are taken care of during the editing
stage of writing. Take the conventions out of a piece of writing and
show children what happens when the conventions are not there.
Children certainly need to learn how to write both formal and
informal letters. This is an important social and business skill that they
will need in the future. Letter writing can also provide real audiences
and help children to develop and understand voice. In many primary
classrooms teachers write a "daily letter" to their students on large
chart paper. This is excellent modeling with a real purpose. Search for
opportunities to write letters for real purposes and watch your young
writer's blossom.
Dear Mr.
Blueberry by
Simon James
Felix
Travels Back in Time
by Annette Lagan
The
Gardener by Sarah Steward
Letters
from Felix: A Little Rabbit on World Tour
by Annette Langen
Felix
Travels Back in Time by Annette Langen
Felix's
Christmas Around the World by Annette Langen
To persuade is to convince. Learning to put together a persuasive
argument is an important life skill. Begin with picture books that explore
elements of persuasion.
Can I Have a Stegosaurus
Mom? by Lois
G. Grambling *small plastic
stegosaurus
Earrings! by Judith
Viorst *small pair of stick-on
earrings
Duck for President by
Doreen Green
My Teacher for
President by Kay Winters
Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive
the Bus by Mo Williams *small school bus sticker or eraser
The writing process is a nonlinear, integrated process that
writer's go through when they compose a piece of writing. Every writer's
process is slightly different, but there are certain critical attributes
that all writers encounter: prewriting or planning (whether it's on paper
or in your head); drafting (often referred to as the "sloppy copy" - just
getting it down on paper); revising (the heart and soul of writing;
editing and publishing.
A lead in a picture book is usually the first sentence. A lead can
be several sentences, paragraphs or even chapters. The lead is what
"hooks" the reader in and makes them want to read more. Leads are
important to the piece of writing. They set the tone and get the piece
moving. A poor lead can easily turn a reader off and cause them to put
down the writing. A dynamic lead will excite and entice the reader. This
is just a small list of books with fabulous leads to use as models.
Hurricane by David
Wiesner (dialogue)
The Art Lesson by Tomie
de Paola
When I was Young in the
Mountains by Cynthia Rylant
THE
END. Don't think of a conclusion as just "the end" of a story. A good
conclusions leaves the reader dreamy about the story and hungering for
more of the same. A good conclusion ties up all of the loose ends and
satisfies the reader like a good meal. Sometimes a conclusion surprises
the reader or jolts the reader, but either way, the reader leaves the book
with lingering thoughts.
The Wednesday
Surprise by
Eve Bunting (surprise ending)
Alliteration is a poetic device that can be used in all types of
writing. Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds of
several words in a group.
Flashback is a literary device where the story refers to an event
that took place prior to the beginning of the story. Flashback interrupts
the present action in a story to insert the prior event. Flashbacks help
readers understand the characters' current feelings and
motivation.
Irony is something that occurs, is stated, or assumed that is the
opposite of what is expected or a contrast of what is said. It's a
contrast between what is expected and what is real, between what is
said and what is meant, between what is true and what appears to be
true, or between what is expected and what actually happens.
The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg
Encounter by Jane
Yolen
The
Tale of the Manrian Ducks
by Katherine Patterson
Metaphors
is the stuff that life is made of. Metaphors make comparisons. Poetry is
one place to search for examples of metaphors. The picture books listed
here have outstanding metaphors to use as modeled
examples.
The Tale of Peter
Rabbit by
Beatrix Potter
Tar Beach by Faith
Ringgold
Owl Moon by Jane
Yolen
The Stranger by Chris
Van Allsburg
Encounter
by Jane Yolen
The
Tale of the Mandrian Duck by Katherine Patterson
Personification brings inanimate objects to life. Stories with
animals or toys talking are examples of personification, but
personification at its best is when the writer gives "human-like"
qualities to objects that seems to give the objects a life of their own.
For example: "The grandmother oak sheltered the children beneath her gown
of leaves and wrapped them in her protective arms." An oak tree is not a
grandmother, nor does it wear a gown or have arms. These are qualities and
features of a human being.
Onomatopoeia
are words that make noise like "crunch" and "munch" and "vroom" and
"boom". Noisy words are fun to use in writing. Kids love them and they can
really help add new dimensions to their pieces.
Sometimes
called "mood pieces," picture books that use poetic language tend to have
beautiful rhythm and pace, flowing voice, and poetry-like words. Picture
books with poetic language are lovely to read and soothing to listen
to.
Children
have a tendency to write "bed to bed" stories and have difficult focusing
on a clear moment in time. Provide children with some wonderful examples
and help them to see the importance and impact of a strong
focus.
When I Was Young in the
Mountains by Cynthia Rylant
Chicken Soup for the Kid’s
Soul (a
collection of clearly focused personal narratives)
Children love fairy tales. Reading fractured versions of fairy
tales can be fun, but more importantly, it can teach children basic plot
structure and organization skills. After studying different fairy tales
and fractured versions, they can follow the structure of the basic tale in
order to create their own. Fortunately there are lots of models
available.
True
Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka
Verbs are the powerhouse of voice. Verbs are active. They are
action. They take writing from passive to active. A strong verb punches
writing up and gives it strength. This list is of picture books that uses
verbs effectively.
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