Build Stronger Writers
Posted by Debra Liverman on 08 Oct 2008 | Posted in: The Mailbox Books
Teachers are always searching for engaging writing prompts to motivate students to write and students often struggle with how to actually develop their ideas even if they have a topic.
That is why our editors wrote Prompt, Plan, Write! Each reproducible student page in the book starts with a high-interest writing prompt followed by a prewriting organizer that helps the student think about and plan his writing. Below the organizer is a writing task for the student to complete on his own paper. These student pages are perfect for placing at a writing center or for using as independent assignments or even homework. However you use it, Prompt, Plan, Write! is another great resource to help you build stronger writers.
Have you tried one of these books? How is it working for you? If you haven’t tried one yet, I’d love for you to print one of the sample pages below and try it with your students. Then check back and tell me what you think.
Each person who comments on this blog post will be entered in a drawing for one FREE Prompt, Plan, Write! book. I’ll randomly choose one name on October 22 and contact the winner via email. I look forward to hearing from you!
Congratulations to Jennifer Gold, winner of a Grade 2 Prompt, Plan, Write! book.
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Prompt, Plan, Write! Grade 1 Prompt, Plan, Write! Grade 2 Prompt, Plan, Write! Grade 3 Prompt, Plan, Write! Grade 4 Prompt, Plan, Write! Grade 5 |
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I problably should put this under my greatest challenge, but there are so many challenges. I am a K teacher, and we take these little ones from writing letters to writing sentences with a topic and 3 details, if possible. I love that this books gives some ideas. I can only model so much and then my ideas become to advanced. I love that even though we want them to write what they want this helps them practise the process they should go through while thinking and planning.
Thanks
The fairytale connection in the 4th grade edition fit perfectly with my current unit.
Here are a few writing books for the Kindergarten level fromThe Mailbox Books. You can find sample pages for each one if you click the link. I hope you find a winner!
Any ideas or books for Kindergarten level? It’s harder to find those!
Wow! Thanks for the amazing response to this book series. I am so excited to hear how these sample pages have worked for you! At The Mailbox, we strive to create materials that will help you be successful in the classroom and make a difference with students. Your kind words are truly motivating. I can’t wait to share all these comments with the editors and artists who worked so hard on this series.
We love hearing from you!
Debra Liverman
I love your idea for development in writing….good for you….good luck….what a great way to inspire children to write….remember the old saying….
you can lead a horse to water
but you can’t make ‘em drink,
but, if you can get them to
lick the salt stick
it can create a thirst!
how true….create a desire in children to write….
and what a change it can make for their future.
Amy England
My school is currently looking for a cohesive writing program for our students that continues the same from 1-5. I will definitly be using these books as a suggestion.
Under Grade One “A Great Trip” prompt was a wonderful additon to my unit on visualizing a setting. We take several “trips” during the school year. Most recently we piled into a pumpkin and headed out to a pumpkin patch. Boy were the field mice surprised to see us get out of the pumpkin! Of course this trip is done through our imaginations. As a Kindergarten teacher I find we need to build the imagination so we can become writers.
As a first grade teacher I’m always looking for ways to get my apprehensive writers to put anything down on the page.This sounds like just the thing.
Just with anything else, students must be interested in what they are doing and in this case it is writing. I think if children are interested in what they are having to write about and have instruction on how to organize the information they want to write about, that their writing will improve and or the student will have the skills needed to organize their writing piece.
My students are visual learners. They are autistic and I tried a sample and they really enjoyed it. At least they were focused to complete the activity. Thanks.
These are great for 1st grade to get them into the writing process! Are there any plans for one to use with kindergarteners in the second half of the year?
The prompts I viewed were enticing and I’m sure will make my students want to write.
Amazing resource!!! I was a little apprehensive in giving out the sample pages which i had downloaded from here. But to my surprise children loved it and came up with great stories.
As a combination 4th/5th grade teacher, I found these resources engaging, fun, and relevant to my students. Even my students like the illustrations. Thanks for another excellent resource!
Wow! I really enjoyed looking at the sample pages. As a language arts teacher I am always looking for different ways to engage my students in the writing process. This is just one more fun way to get them excited about writing! Thank you!
Thanks for making a resource with activities that are so engaging for the children and so helpful for the teachers. My ESE students enjoy the prompts that help to guide and focus their ideas for writing. You get an A+ from me.
As the K-3 Literacy teacher, I see a lot of potential for just the samples I saw. I can only imagine how great the whole Prompt, Plan, Write! series will be. Mailbox has done it again!
I really liked the sample pages and my students had a great time discussing the activities and filling it out. My students are always writing and I think this resource is a great way to make writing fun!
This will be great for children who have a hard time thinking of a topic.
As a first grade teacher, one of my biggest joy is to see how excited the children get when they begin to write their own stories. Realizing that they too can be authors gets to be a highlite in the classroom. I feel that the Prompt, Plan, Write Series is an inspiring tool that will be able to be used in all classrooms for all children. Thank you
I think this will really help some of my students in the writing process. I like the format and it triggers more of a child’s imagination with the pictures.
I am an senior currently in final internship in a second grade classroom. We are always looking for ways to help students out and make learning to write easier for them. I think that these books are just what we are looking for!
I think this is great for my students. They liked the sample pages. They are very excited.
I think this is a fun way to get kids to WRITE!!! They will love the pictures and filling it in. Mailbox resources are some of my favorites.
This is a great resource, I have already used some of the materials while I am still a substitute. I look forward to using them when I get my own classroom.
This would come in quite handy for me. I am a new teacher using the Lucy Calkins series…and I am always looking for things to add on into our mini-lessons.
This looks to be a really great resource. I printed the sample pages and used them. They were terrific. The students really enjoyed them. It is a wonderful tool.
This looks like it would fit nicely with the steps of writing and teaching the 6 traits.–4th Grade
This looks like a great resource. Anxious to view more.
I had not heard of this resource before, but I printed out the sample pages and I am excited to try them out with my fifth graders! I like how they have broken down the steps into clear, easy to answer sections.
This is very timely! We are just starting personal narratives. I have really appreciated “Peas in a Pod.” They are wonderful organizational tools! This books appears to be an invaluable resource!
Writing is still new for me as a new teacher. I would love to hear how some of the experienced teachers are using these prompts, or even some examples. I have the 2nd, and 2nd/3rd grade books. Being a visual learning really stinks sometimes. Thanks everyone!!!
These sound great, I wish I could open up the sample pages. My students struggle with expanding their writing. I really want to help them and these books sound like a good resource.
I think the prompts in this book are great. It is so hard to get students to write and add interesitng detail. This book would definitely encourage them to write more.
I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these books. I love writing, but it is really hard to get second graders to love it. I am always trying new things to get my little friends writing!!!
I just think the graphic organizers are wonderful. It takes so much time for me to make my own and be cutesy. These are done for me. This is great for our independent writing station.
I teach in a public school part-time and homeschool too. Writing is quite a challenge. Anything to make it fun!! These sound like great prompting ideas!!
For some reason, children do not like to write no matter what fun topic you give them. These prompts and graphic organizers are easy to follow and make the pre-writing seem fun. I’d love to get the book and try it out for myself.
I have the book for 5th grade …my students love it…the organizers are wonderful and I love the way it guides the students through the writing process.
The organizer pages are attractive and simple enough for first graders to follow independently at the writing center. A great way to motivate writing.
I especially like the lesson on writing a friendly letter. The organizers/prewriting tools are also quite helpful for my 1st graders.
I am excited about the concept of these books. I have a few students that struggle with what to write about. This format will help to organize their thoughts.
Thanks!
In third grade we are presently giving the state assessed ELA tests. Third graders have a hard time getting started with their writing. The planning pages included in the book could be a valuable tool to help prepare students for those difficult tasks. I will be trying out the samples this week with my class.
Love the look of these new books. I’ll have to get the first grade edition. Our school has “All Write” days, where the entire school writes all morning on early release days. It’s always a struggle for us because the district has not provided prompts for K-2. We try to come up with something that will interest the kids and cover different types of writing. I think this book will be a huge help on “All Write” days.
Teaching writing is perhaps the most difficult, time-consuming… and rewarding!… part of teaching English Language Arts when you have a class of struggling learners. The fact that the sample pages shown here have topics that are high interest for the students, combined with pre-writing activities that are easy to understand and presented in a way that would be appealing to older students is great. I am definitely interested in purchasing!
PROMPT, PLAN, WRITE! is the perfect book to use in my writing centers. My 2nd graders love the pictures and different topics. They are having fun at the same time as learning!
Yay! I am so excited to try this in my first grade class. Most of my students enjoy writing, but it is difficult to find interesting things to write about daily. I may have to run out and buy one of these books!
This book would be extremely useful for the professional development plan focusing on six trait writing. I love the prompts and would be great for second grade!
Mailbox always has great ideas!
I have been looking for some additional ideas to use during literacy stations that will also support our 6 + 1 writing traits and it looks like I’ve found it! Great idea and easy format from what I can see!!
These sample pages look fabulous. I teach in a multi-graded 2/3/4 class and I know this will help bridge the gaps and be beneficial to all!
I can’t wait to try the sample prompts with my class. They look like they will be really helpful to my students.
I love the format! I can’t wait to try with my students.
I am a special ed. teacher, these writing prompts will be great for my struggling writers. This format is just FANTASTIC! I can’t wait to get started. Thank you.
What a great concept! I know my second graders love writing from prompts. It helps get the creativity rolling.
In first grade it is so hard to teach meaningful writing lessons! This looks like a great resource to help students explore writing. I am going to try the sample lesson in my class tomorrow! I also think that having the cute pictures will make this lesson look more like fun and less like work, that always helps in class!!!!
Looks like a great organizer for beginning writers as well as a motivator for seasoned ones.
I’ll be using the Barn Bash tomorrow for it fits with the big book we are reading.
Another great idea from the Mailbox
I am always looking for ideas to teach writing! I have to prepare my 4th Grade students for the State Writing Test. For this test, the students need to learn how to write to a prompt. This book, based on the examples, looks engaging and something that the students would love!
What a cool resource. I absolutely love Prompt, Plan, Write! I teach second grade and my colleagues and I are always trying to add new resources, ideas, and modeling so that our students excell in writing, and all other areas. Thank you for the sample pages, I can’t wait to use them. And, I plan to order the Prompt, Plan, Write! Grade 2. Thanks much.
Another great idea from the Mailbox! I used one of the sample promts during centers last week in my third grade classroom and my students loved it!! Thank you!
Prompt, Plan, Write Grade 1 hits all the topics needed in first grade. I like the organizers for motivating the students to think through their ideas on paper before writing. Great ideas for topics too!
What great ideas!! These are absolutly topics my kids would LOVE to write about. My first graders are very eager to write and actually BEG me to write in their journals during their free time. These prompts provide structure as well as teaching HOW to write about or on ANY topic. Absolutly LOVE this book!! I can’t wait to get one!!!
As third grade in IL looks again at writing for the ISAT, books like this can help our students plan and address the things they must be prepared for. I will be interested in looking at a copy at my nearest teacher store.
Very good ideas! I plan to use the sample prompts in my class!
Thanks!
I teach first grade and always looking for new and refreshing ideas to teach writing!
I am a kindergarten teacher, using a new reading series, and would love new ideas to use to enhance my kiddos’ writing and get them excited about it!
This looks fantastic. What a great idea to use in a literacy center. I can’t wait to try it out with my first graders.
This looks fantastic - very kid friendly, but high-interest. Can’t wait to get my hands on it.
This looks like a really neat series. Viewing the sample pages and table of contents was beneficial for me to see what this is like. I am most definitely interested in getting this.
i have just returned from a weekly grade level meeting where writing was the topic. we do discuss this a lot. we all have a number of ideas on teaching writing but we were feeling like our ideas were out of order. we quickly reviewed our state standards and reminded ourselves what we need to focus on. overall, your book and its table of contents covered just about everything we want to make sure we cover.
as i reviewed this i thought - great book - it touches everything specific to us and is neatly sorted, titled and ready to go. i haven’t used a page yet, but plan to try the personal narrative for third grade. with eld students, the graphics looked great and the leads seem simple enough for my students to use.
as always,
joan cronin
I am SO excited to find this book. Just today, I was looking for a way to help my 8 year old daughter with her writing skills (I am a homeschooling mother of three children). Her struggles come with organizing her thoughts. This is such a fun way for her to get her ideas down on paper and then put them together for a GREAT writing project! I can’t tell you how wonderful this book will be for her!