Scholastic : Teachers Ramp Up K-5 Writing Instruction With a New Resource from Ruth Culham and Scholastic
October 13, 2016 at 09:04 am
Share
Contact:
Alexandra Wladich
Scholastic Inc.
212-965-7353
awladich@scholastic.com
New York, NY-October 13, 2016 -Best-selling author and pioneering researcher in literacy instruction Ruth Culham has once again paired writing exercises and activities with selections of popular fiction and nonfiction children's books in the new teaching resource for grades K-5, Trait Crates Plus ® from Scholastic, the global children's publishing, education and media company.
Trait Crates Plus, which grows out of Culham's 40 years of research and instructional experience, focuses on the reading and writing connection. Using fiction and informational titles as mentor texts, such as Exclamation Mark written by Amy Krause Rosenthal and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld and Buried Sunlight by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm, they help students understand the 'six traits' of good writing-ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions - and the four key qualities that define the specific components of each trait, and use them systematically to improve their own writing.
'Writers use reading for inspiration. They mine their reading and use the precious gems they discover to adorn their own writing,' said Ruth Culham, author and consultant for the Culham Writing Company. 'With Trait Crate Plus, students learn to write like pros, becoming 'Writing Thieves' as they learn to 'steal' techniques and inspiration from the best of the best by reading high-quality texts.'
Each grade level (K-5) of Trait Crate Plus includes:
Six high-quality mentor texts per grade level by respected children's authors: Cynthia Rylant, Pam Muñoz Ryan, David Shannon, Leo and Diane Dillon, Joseph Bruchac, Elisha Cooper, Mark Teague, and many others.
Book-Six book-specific teaching guides each centered on one trait and its four key qualities. Each guide contains four ready-to-go lesson plans, background information, extension activities, reproducible student pages, and a student-friendly scoring guide.
Ruth's best-selling professional book, The Writing Thief: Using Mentor Texts to Teach the Craft of Writing, provides background and research about the use of mentor texts for writing instruction and over a hundred additional titles with teaching ideas to consider adding to the classroom.
Digital resources including video interviews with children's authors, downloadable student pages, and student-friendly scoring guides.
Classroom resources including six age-appropriate traits of writing posters and organizational accessories such as sticker sheets, hanging folders, and sturdy storage box.
'Scholastic is proud to partner with Ruth to help educators teach writing using the research-driven, student-centered traits model,' said Dr. Lois Bridges, Vice President & Publisher, Scholastic Education. 'Traits Crate Plus provides educators with thoughtful and creative lessons that are ready-to-teach today, while providing students with access to engaging and beloved children's literature.'
For more tips and writing strategies from Ruth Culham, visit: http://bit.ly/2cZqRqw.
For more information about Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), visit our online Media Room at http://mediaroom.scholastic.com.
Scholastic Corporation published this content on 13 October 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 13 October 2016 13:04:03 UTC.
Original documenthttp://mediaroom.scholastic.com/press-release/teachers-ramp-k-5-writing-instruction-new-resource-ruth-culham-and-scholastic
Public permalinkhttp://www.publicnow.com/view/4448BE11A36858C01372191FE700C02F60F14672
Scholastic Corporation is a publisher and distributor of childrenâs books. The Company operates through three segments: Childrenâs Book Publishing and Distribution, Education Solutions and International. The Childrenâs Book Publishing and Distribution segment operates as an integrated business, which includes the publication and distribution of childrenâs books, e-books, media and interactive products in the United States through its book clubs and book fairs in its school channels and through the trade channel. The Education Solutions segment includes the publication and distribution to schools and libraries of childrenâs books, classroom magazines, print and digital supplemental and core classroom materials and programs and related support services, and print and on-line reference and non-fiction products for grades pre-kindergarten to 12 in the United States. The International segment includes the publication and distribution of products and services outside the United States.