Posts tagged ‘thinking and communicating with clarity and precision’
105. Twenty-Odd Ducks: Why, Every Punctuation Mark Counts! by Lynne Truss
Retell: Lynne Truss presents illustrated examples of how the meaning of a sentence changes when a writer makes poor choices about punctuation.
Topics: punctuation
Units of Study: Any Writing unit
Tribes: personal best
Habits of Mind: thinking and communicating with clarity and precision
My Thoughts: This is the companion to her book, Eats, Shoots and Leaves. This book, however doesn’t just focus on commas. When students started to edit their personal narratives during our last Writing unit, I taught a lesson about how writers make important choices about end punctuation (for more fabulous lessons about teaching grammar and punctuation consult The Power of Grammar). I plan on reading this book in a few weeks when I review this concept with students. I hope this inspires students to experiment with punctuation.
100. Should There Be Zoos? A Persuasive Text by Tony Stead with Judy Ballester and her fourth grade class
Retell: A collection of persuasive, well-researched essays that explore whether or not we should have zoos. The anthology includes a glossary and a description of the process they went through to write the book.
Topics: zoos, persuasive text, arguments, endangered species, reintroduction
Units of Study: Content-Area, Personal Essay
Tribes: mutual respect
Habits of Mind: thinking and communicating with clarity and precision
Writing Skills: defining a word within a sentence, incorporating precise vocabulary, developing a persuasive voice
My Thoughts: Though the unit is a month away, my school’s literacy coach and I are beginning to collect mentor texts for the personal essay unit. Here is a text that you could use for either Personal Essay or Content-Area writing. The essays not only make good mentor texts but the description of the writing process is important to share with students as they embark on an essay unit. The authors included ten steps to writing a persuasive text. I’m particularly found of number eight: “After doing lots of reading, observing, and note-taking, we put our new information into our arguments to make them stronger. We constantly conferenced with our teachers.”
77. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: Why, Commas Really DO Make a Difference! by Lynne Truss
Retell: Truss makes punctuation entertaining in this adaptation of her best-seller Eats, Shoots & Leaves. Each page contains illustrations of seemingly identical sentences. Take for example the following sentences:
- Eat here, and get gas.
- Eat here and get gas.
One implies that you get gasoline, the other implies that the food makes you (and others) uncomfortable.
Topics: punctuation, grammar, usage, commas
Units of Study: This book can be used during any Writing unit
Habits of Mind: thinking and communicating with clarity and precision, striving for accuracy
Reading Skills: monitoring for sense
Writing Skills: using commas
Thoughts: The illustrations in this book truly convey the importance of commas. In the back of the book there are explanations for why the meaning of each sentence changes with an omission or insertion of a comma. There are other books in the series that I haven’t checked out yet but I hear are equally delightful. Essential mentor texts for any editing unit.
Teachable Texts 