Books in Writing series

Brian Higman, also known as Big Hig, has a problem. He does not have his sloppy copy writing assignment ready to turn in, and his teacher, Miss Fromme, is not one to listen to excuses. But Brian has really good reasons this time. Between the antics of his impossible five-year-old brother and his teenage brother's rock-and-roll band rehearsing at his house, not to mention the fact that his life savings have gone missing, it was impossible to get any homework done over the weekend. It takes all of Brian's imaginative powers and storytelling techniques to prevent him from getting a zero. And it takes some inspiration on Miss Fromme's part to coax Brian into turning his excuses into an actual sloppy copy.

This book gives you some great new options for starting the writing process. Parts of a story, characters, setting, plot action, and conclusion are all subjects of discussion and writing activities. You get reproducible forms for a story checklist, story plan sheets, description sheets for setting, character and plot, final copy and illustration, and assembling, binding and publishing a storybook. Other exercises include sequencing, a story web, retelling a fairy tale, and a circular story. Lots of charming illustrations provided throughout. As always, Evan-Moor also provides step-by-step instructions and lots of reproducible forms. You get checklists, graphic organizers and directions for a classroom publishing center. All 48 perforated for easy removal.

Got a passion for poetry? Are you primed to rhyme? Word whiz Loris Lesynski shows you how it’s done in this unique collection that blends “best of” with “how to”. Inside you’ll find over 30 Lesynski favorites alongside advice for kids on creating poems. In nine snappy sections, Lesynski features different ways a poem can take shape. Rhymes like “Dirty Dog Boogie” came from a catchy beat. Other ideas emerged from playing with words, as in “Mozza Mozza”. Further sections include: • Preparing for Poems — warm-ups for the mouth and the brain • Me Me Me Me — rhymes that start with you • What I’d Like to Know — poems that pose questions • How Illustrations Happen — providing pictures for poems • Writning Bolts — further activities for aspiring rhymers Bursting with Michael Martchenko’s vivid illustrations and packed with over 20 pages of all-new material by Lesynski, “I Did It Because ” is a playground of poetry where readers are invited to play along.

• Writing is an essential life and career skill. But writing (especially good writing) comes from the head and from the heart. Unfortunately, the writing spirit can be broken almost instantly - shattered by well-meant corrections and writing rules that force children to “color in the lines.” Carole Marsh’s Writing Tree book series is an expansive, charming, creative, and effective system for guiding students (and teachers) through the writing process while encouraging imagination and creativity!• Carole Marsh’s Secrets, Tips, Tricks, and More is the primary Writing Tree™ product. Containing 180 out-of-the-box, reproducible activities, Writing Tree excites your students’ imaginations and inspires creativity through a variety of unique, effective writing prompts and activities. With clear direction and plenty of ideas, you will incorporate new ideas and skills into all aspects of writing, from expressing emotion through pirates (Arrrrgg!), to writing fortune cookie messages, to a plethora of story ideas for the class and individual writing. You and your students will have fun learning to write together! • This book truly is all-inclusive. With clear direction, definitions, explanations, and creative writing ideas, you will never need a writing manual again!

By Carol Simpson. Select a "poem of the week" and then follow this book's Monday-to-Friday schedule of activities for deepening students' appreciation of that poem. Choose your own poem or use one of the 39 supplied in this book as reproducible handouts; each of the book's poems comes with half a dozen or more activities related to the poem's language and its themes, a list of related poems and children's books, and a writing assignment based on a reproducible handout. The book also describes 12 activity ideas that will work with any poem. Grades K–3. Illustrated. Good Year Books. 288 pages. ©1995. GDY496.