Trait Crate Plus
Trait Crate Plus
by Ruth Culham
These kits from writing expert, Ruth Culham, give you grade-perfect picture books and in-depth lessons to teach writing based on the traits. Each crate contains:
- 6 mentor texts by beloved children's authors—one for each trait
- 6 teaching guides with trait-focused, mode-specific lessons based on the mentor texts (24 lessons total)
- The Writing Thief, Culham's groundbreaking professional book
- Companion website with video interviews of children's authors, downloadable pages, and student-friendly scoring guides
- 6 teaching posters that feature key qualitites of the traits
- 120 color-coded stickers
Available for Grades K though 5.
Kindergarten Mentor Texts:
- Ideas: Worms for Lunch?, by Leonid Gore
- Organization: Mouse at Night, by Nancy Christensen Hall
- Voice: Hiding Phil, by Eric Barclay
- Word Choice: The Great Gracie Chase, by Cynthia Rylant and Mark Teague
- Sentence Fluency: The Deep Blue Sea: A Book of Colors, by Audrey and Bruce Wood
- Conventions: Monday Is One Day, by Arthur A. Levine
Grade 1 Mentor Texts:
- Ideas: The Wonderful Book, by Leonid Gore
- Organization: The End (Almost), by Jim Benton
- Voice: Dumb Bunnies Go to the Zoo, by Dav Pilkey
- Word Choice: A Tree Can Be, by Judy Nayer
- Sentence Fluency: Just How Long Can a Long String Be?, by Keith Baker
- Conventions: The Gingerbread Bear, by Robert Dennis
Grade 2 Mentor Texts:
- Ideas: Tony Baloney, by Pam Munoz Ryan and Edwin Fotheringham
- Organization: Kenya: A to Z, by Justine and Ron Fontes
- Voice: Detective Blue, by Steve Metzger
- Word Choice: Gone with the Wand, by Margie Palatini
- Sentence Fluency: Hot Rod Hamster: Monster Truck Mania, by Cynthia Lord
- Conventions: The Whales, by Cynthia Rylant
Grade 3 Mentor Texts:
- Ideas: The Swing, by Joe Cepeda
- Organization: Train, by Elisha Cooper
- Voice: The Pet Shop Revolution, by Ana Juan
- Word Choice: Lizards, by Nic Bishop
- Sentence Fluency: Too Many Toys, by David Shannon
- Conventions: Exclamation Mark, by Amy Krause Rosenthal
Grade 4 Mentor Texts:
- Ideas: If Kids Ran the World, by Leo and Diane Dillon
- Organization: Who Would Win? Whale vs. Giant Squid, by Jerry Pallotta
- Voice: Bugs in My Hair, by David Shannon
- Word Choice: The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf, by Mark Teague
- Sentence Fluency: Steve Jobs: A True Book, by Josh Gregory
- Conventions: Season of the Circle: A Native American Year, by Joseph Bruchac
Grade 5** Mentor Texts:
- Ideas: Buried Sunlight, by Molly Bang and Penny Chisolm
- Organization: Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad, by Henry Cole
- Voice: The Adventures of Ook and Gluk;Kung-Fu Cavemen from the Future, by George Beard and Harold Hutchins
- Word Choice: Testing the Ice: A True Story About Jackie Robinson, by Sharon Robinson and Kadir Nelson
- Sentence Fluency: Jangles: A Big Fish Story, by David Shannon
- Conventions: What’s New? The Zoo!, by Kathleen Krull
**Grade 5 is on backorder at the publisher and unavailable at this time.