Trait Crate: Grade 2: Picture Books, Model Lessons, and More to Teach Writing With the 6 Traits [Paperback]

Ruth Culham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2008 | ISBN-10: 054507472X | ISBN-13: 978-0545074728

Teaching writing just got easier and more effective because of these sturdy crates. In them, teachers will find everything they need to help students use the six traits-ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions-improve their writing. Each crate contains an array of materials designed to engage students and enrich their writing experiences, including: 6 high-interest picture books hand selected for each trait 6 teaching guides filled with step-by-step lessons, graphic organizers, a scoring guide, and extension activities.Sing-Along Trait Songs, a music CD containing lively, trait-specific songs to share with your students. Includes a bonus track on presentation.6 full-color 17 x 22 posters contain lyrics to the songs on the CD Color-coded stickers for organizing classroom libraries and teaching materials. Using Picture Books to Teach Writing With the Traits: K-2, 112-page resource containing 18 step-by-step lessons and 150 annotations

of new and classic books, organized by trait What's more, each crate comes with hanging folders one for each trait for easy, expandable storage for years to come.Second Grade Picture Books Ideas: Tulip Sees America Organization: A Busy YearVoice: Alice the Fairy Word Choice: The Best Class Picture Ever!

Sentence Fluency: Dizzy Conventions: Chameleon! For use with Grade 2.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Scholastic Teaching Resources (Teaching (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 054507472X
• ISBN-13: 978-0545074728
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #192,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

You never know what's brewing next with Ruth Culham, aka "The Trait Lady." She's either on a plane traveling to a school district or conference to present her latest thinking about how to use the six-trait model for assessment and instruction, or creating new Scholastic resources for writing teachers to use in the classroom.

Actually, she credits Delta airlines for completing the new middle school book and the books that go with it such as forms, mentor text, and comments. During those long flights between who-knows-where and Portland, Oregon (home base) she logged some serious writing hours. The new core book contains way, way cool new scoring guides, papers, lessons, and ideas to make a middle school writing teacher's life a happy place. Think that's impossible? Stay tuned. A writing revolution is underway.

Ruth spent 19 years in the classroom, the highlight of which was being named Montana's English/Language Arts teacher of the year. After classroom teaching, she worked as researcher and then Unit Manager for the Assessment Program at Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. She finished her doctorate. She wrote her first book: 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for Grades 3 and Up. And the rest, they say, is history.

Check out this site for the many exciting and teacher-friendly trait-based writing resources now available to support teachers and students from Scholastic Press.

Her latest book, "Traits of Writing:The Complete Guide for Middle School" won the 2011 Teacher's Choice Award, a rarity for a professional book. When the Trait Crates for grades 3-5 won the award in 2008, she was thrilled. This year's recognition makes it even more special.

And there's much more coming in the months and years ahead⎯including a top-secret project bound to make K-8 teachers smile. There's always more-in her heart and on her mind. Her connections to teachers and students keep the work fresh. Her home office keeps her comfortable. Her friends keep her in wine. Her cats keep her company. Life is pretty good.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good resource but pricey, December 6, 2008

By 

Teacher-TX (TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trait Crate: Grade 2: Picture Books, Model Lessons, and More to Teach Writing With the 6 Traits (Paperback)

While this is a nice resource, it's overpriced for the content. A better purchase is buying two of Ruth Culham's books, Using Picture Books to Teach Writing With the Traits: K-2: An Annotated Bibliography of More Than 150 Mentor Texts With Teacher-Tested Lessons and 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide for the Primary Grades. The first title is included in the crate, and the second more than replaces the very slim teacher guides in the crate. These two titles are a much better purchase. Many more picture book lessons can be found on the internet. (One excellent site is WritingFix.com.)

The lyrics to the songs from the Trait Crate CD are included in the second book. They are set to very familiar tunes (Row Your Boat, Mary Had a Little Lamb, etc.), so you don't need the CD. Posters of the 6 traits are easily made or found on internet.

While the Trait Crate is a good resource, it is somewhat pricey. With a limited budget, your money could be better spent.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ready, set, go write!, December 8, 2008

By 

Debra Stewart "Debra Stewart NBCT- Literacy" (Topeka, KS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trait Crate: Grade 2: Picture Books, Model Lessons, and More to Teach Writing With the 6 Traits (Paperback)

This resource needs to be in every second grade classroom. The Trait Crate is easy to use. It has all the materials you need at your fingertips to get a writing program started. If you bought the books that are included,title by title, it would be practically the same cost as the Trait Crate PLUS with the Crate you get ready to use lesson plans. Each Crate has posters that are student friendly and ready to use.

A great resource to add to any writing program. It is a springboard to having those materials ready to go and create an exciting and well-rounded language arts/reading/writing environment.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teaching writing just got easier!, December 8, 2008

By 

Libby Jachles (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trait Crate: Grade 2: Picture Books, Model Lessons, and More to Teach Writing With the 6 Traits (Paperback)

When Using Picture Books to Teach Writing With the Traits: K-2: An Annotated Bibliography of More Than 150 Mentor Texts With Teacher-Tested Lessons came out earlier this year, I didn't think it could get any better. Now the Trait Crate: Grade 2: Picture Books, Model Lessons, and More to Teach Writing With the 6 Traits has arrived, and teaching writing to young learners just got even better and easier! For each trait, there is a well-chosen picture book with a teaching guide that includes three lessons, specific teaching points, and a kid-friendly scoring guide. Also included is a CD of all the trait songs (with vocal and instrumental versions), a poster for each song with the lyrics, stickers to help organize other classroom picture books by trait, AND a copy of Using Picture Books to Teach Writing With the Traits: K-2: An Annotated Bibliography of More Than 150 Mentor Texts With Teacher-Tested Lessons! (Having an extra copy means that I can keep one at home and one at school.) All these materials come in a sturdy "crate" with file folders to keep things organized. The bright colored box fits on a shelf in my room, and there's no chance that it will get buried or lost in one of my piles! The Trait Crate guarantees that I have great lessons and books at my fingertips. Ruth Culham is known for providing teachers with high quality resources and lessons that help ensure excellent learning opportunities for our children. Ruth delivers, yet again, with writing ideas that sparkle!