Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.

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!

I am an office manager at an elementary school and we purchased these trait crates for our teachers to use with their classes. Our teachers absolutely love these trait crates and it has helped our students tremendously with learning their traits for effective writing. I would recommend these trait crates to anyone interested in helping their students to excel.

I am graduate student who just learned about Trait Crates. I've used them a few times when I have been called to substitute teach, and I think they're great! They are easy to use and the materials are minimal. As a new teacher, I am always looking for new ways to broaden my teaching strategies. I think this is a really helpful resource, and for me, it was well worth the money spent.

The Second Grade Trait Crate is an incredible tool for teachers. New teachers can use the crate to guide their writing lessons and just get started with the business of teaching writing. Veteran teachers love the books and lessons and we are using them as a model to create additional trait based lessons.This is a win- win for everyone! Our district has purchased the Trait Crates for all of our K-5th grade teachers and we love them.

I have been waiting for this product, it seems, for years. I loved the versions that were out for grades 3, 4, and 5 that are in my school's library. I even called the publisher to ask if they were going to come out with a version for second grade. I was so excited when it came out! The picture books are a huge hit with my kids, and the posters are adorable. The pendaflex folders and stickers make everything a cinch to organize and store. Thank you!