I have recently been getting inquiries about how to use kids’ books to help support writing instruction. Where do I start? Kids’ books can be very powerful in providing models for young writers. Call them model texts, call them, mentor text, call them whatever. Just use them. Please! Make them available in your classroom, read them aloud, talk about them, write about them.
Probably my favorite type of children’s book to use is the picture book. Short, sweet, colorful, fun. There’s something for everyone is these types of books. That’s why I like to call them “everybody books.” And that’s why I use them at all grade levels. That’s right, even middle and high school. Why upper grades? Because most older kids have some sort of positive connection to these books from their younger years. It may take some digging through the debris of our educational system to get to those positive connections, but it’s doable. Also, given the short length (32 pages) of these books, using them is efficient. Plus, did I mention fun. Nothing wrong with that.
Many teachers in the U.S. and around the world use Six Traits to help teach writing. Six Traits is not a writing curriculum and it is not a program. It is a way of thinking and talking about writing that helps kids become better writers. It provides students and teachers with a process and a common language they can use to enhance writing skills.
Don’t get me wrong: Six Traits is not THE answer to the challenge of teaching writing. It is, however, an important element in developing successful writers at every grade level. I have seen, firsthand, the power of Six Traits in my own classroom over the years and in the classrooms of the many teachers I have worked with as a writing consultant.
To help support your use of Six Traits, I will be posting activities and other resources. I hope you will make use of them as well as share them with your colleagues. Feel free to share your own as well.
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Trait-related book activities, which can be great to use, can also be very frustrating if you cannot locate the specific book featured. I’ve been there. I know. If you have this experience, try a flexible approach. See if you can apply the activity to a similar book. So, if the focus is on writing leads (Organization), find another picture book that has a strong lead and use that activity. While this may not work for all activities, it’s worth trying. Build your own list of activities using your favorite picture books.
Good luck!
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Lesson Plan for Sentence Fluency…
Trait: Sentence Fluency
Book/ Author: The Important Book, by Margaret Wise Brown
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 978-0-06-443227-6
Summary:
The Important Book is filled with many poems about things considered unimportant. Each poem begins and ends with the same line, “The important thing about _____is that it is _______.” The rhythm and patterns found in each poem are predictable and fun to read. (Students enjoy hearing and reading positive comments about others during the modeling portion of the lesson.)
What you need: A copy of The Important Book, writing paper, pencils
What you do:
1. Read aloud The Important Book.
2. Ask students if they hear a pattern or rhythm that makes the reading flow smoothly.
3. After reading several poems, do not read the last line aloud, but rather have students say it.
4. Model (using Overhead Projector) the construction of this style of poem, using the format of the book, with the topic..Important Things About Me. Model: prewrite and rough draft
5. Students (as a class) help edit and revise the poem:
add details
use a variety of sentence lengths in the beginning, middle, and end of poem
do lines in the middle of the poems begin with different words.
6. Use the revision to model writing the final draft.
7. Students practice creating their own poem of Important Things About Me following each modeled step: pre-write, rough draft, edit, revision, final draft.
8. Each student begins with one poem.
9. Students share poems with class.
10. Collect poems. Add more Important Things About Me poems during other writing times. Each student will have completed a book when finished.
Lesson Plan for Ideas & Content…
Trait: Ideas & Content
Book/ Author: Thank you, Mr. Falker, by Patricia Polacco
Publisher: Philomel Books, The Penguin Group
ISBN: 978-0-399-25762-9
Summary:
This is the autobiography of Patricia Polacco. She not only had a learning challenge, but was treated as an outcast because of it. Her life changes when she meets Mr. Falker.
What you need: A copy of Thank you, Mr. Falker, writing paper, pencils
What you do:
1. Read aloud, Thank you, Mr. Falker.
2. After reading, ask the students the following questions as you write on an overhead projector:
who the story is about
what happens
when does the story take place
where does the story take place
why are the events happening
3. Brainstorm with the class what details could be added to make the answers to the questions more interesting. Use adjectives and adverbs.
4. Discuss: Which details are most important to the reader. Which details should be taken out?
Followup lesson:
Students prewrite their own: who, what, when, where, and why narrative about someone that has made a difference in their lives.
Students revise and add details.
Students pair up and do peer-editing, keeping only those details that are important.
Share student writings.
Lesson Plan for Conventions…
Trait: Conventions
Book/ Author: Punctuation Celebration, by Elsa Knight Bruno
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-545-27978-9
Summary:
A collection of short poems tell how different types of punctuation marks are appropriately used in text. There are fun illustrations that enhance the text.
What you need: A copy of Punctuation Celebration, Index cards
What you do:
1. Have individual index cards labeled on one side with a punctuation mark illustrated in the book.
2. Have individual index cards written on one side with a statements, series, dates, dialogue, abbreviations, or questions. DO NOT include any punctuation marks on these cards, but have them match up to the punctuation index cards.
3. Optional: Include additional index cards with the following vocabulary words: imperative, declarative, interrogative, exclamatory.
4. Hand out all index cards to students. Students move around the room to search for their match of punctuation marks, written cards, or vocabulary words.
5. Students share their matches.
6. Add to this lesson as you teach additional conventions.