Someone that I work with had recommended this book to me so I decided to check it out for myself. It’s called, No More “I’m Done”. I’m in love with this book. You can click on the image below to check it out on Amazon.
One of the reasons I love this book is that it is an easy read. I have other teacher resources that are hundreds upon hundreds of pages long that I’m sure are full of great content but I just don’t have the time to sit down and read them. So they sit on my bookshelf in my classroom looking pretty.
I finished this book in a day and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Another reason that I like this book is that it has a whole year of mini-lessons for writing that focus on the traits. I truly believe that writing using a combination of the traits and focusing on using the writing process is the way to go when it comes to teaching writing.
In the past I used to focus my writing lessons around a specific form of writing and I would provide a graphic organizer for my students and they would all write about the same thing using the same graphic organizer. When I changed my writing program to focus on the traits and allowed students to have the choice about their topic and form, magically their writing improved. I could suddenly hear excellent use of their voice, interesting word choice and enthusiasm for writing.
I also like this book because she emphasizes the importance of teachers not focusing on conventions. Too often teachers deem writing a failure if it doesn’t include periods and capitals, but writing is about so much more than that. Writing is more about voice, and writing something that other people are interested in. Real authors have editors that fix missing punctuation. No one is going to give Stephen King a D- because he was missing some periods and capitals.
If you continue to model proper use of the conventions during your morning message, shared reading or however you model writing for your students (which you of course should be doing), they will eventually get it. When I look back at my writing journals from when I was in first and second grade, there was nary a period to be found (aside from the red ones that my teachers added). Guess what? I know how to use the conventions now…for the most part (I don’t have a fancy editor to look over my work).
So to sum it up, this book is an easy read that will provide you with practical lessons to use for the whole year that are based on the 6 traits of writing (ideas, voice, word choice, organization, sentence fluency and conventions).
Should you follow all of these lessons all year long? Only if that is what your students need at the time. You can always mix up the order of the lessons or add in your own ideas. First and foremost you need to look at your students needs and then determine the appropriate lesson.
Definitely check out this book and if you do, remember to come back here and let me know what you thought of the book. I would love to hear from other people who’ve read it! What did you think?
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I have used this with my kiddos and it is awesome!! You can also email the author and she will answer your questions!! I highly recommend it!
At my new school, we're actually reading this book as part of a book club. It's been sitting with some other resources. You've gotten me excited to read this….I think I might crack it open now and get a head start 🙂
K.
Kristin you will love it! Super easy/quick read with practical ideas that you can use right away. Good luck with your new kindies!! I know they'll love you.
Ohhh thanks for the tip!
I also highly recommend this book. The quiet 10 was one of the best things I have added to my writers workshop.
Love this book!! One of my writing faves!!