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Alexandra Wladich
Scholastic Inc.
212-965-7353
awladich@scholastic.com

New York, NY–October 13, 2016 –Best-selling author and pioneering researcher in literacy instruction Ruth Culham has once again paired writing exercises and activities with selections of popular fiction and nonfiction children’s books in the new teaching resource for grades K–5, Trait Crates Plus® from Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company.

Trait Crates Plus, which grows out of Culham’s 40 years of research and instructional experience, focuses on the reading and writing connection. Using fiction and informational titles as mentor texts, such as Exclamation Mark written by Amy Krause Rosenthal and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld and Buried Sunlight by Molly Bang and Penny Chisholm, they help students understand the “six traits” of good writing—ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions – and the four key qualities that define the specific components of each trait, and use them systematically to improve their own writing.

“Writers use reading for inspiration. They mine their reading and use the precious gems they discover to adorn their own writing,” said Ruth Culham, author and consultant for the Culham Writing Company. “With Trait Crate Plus, students learn to write like pros, becoming ‘Writing Thieves’ as they learn to ‘steal’ techniques and inspiration from the best of the best by reading high-quality texts.”

Each grade level (K-5) of Trait Crate Plus includes:

• Six high-quality mentor texts per grade level by respected children’s authors: Cynthia Rylant, Pam Muñoz Ryan, David Shannon, Leo and Diane Dillon, Joseph Bruchac, Elisha Cooper, Mark Teague, and many others.
• Book-Six book-specific teaching guides each centered on one trait and its four key qualities. Each guide contains four ready-to-go lesson plans, background information, extension activities, reproducible student pages, and a student-friendly scoring guide.
• Ruth’s best-selling professional book, The Writing Thief: Using Mentor Texts to Teach the Craft of Writing, provides background and research about the use of mentor texts for writing instruction and over a hundred additional titles with teaching ideas to consider adding to the classroom.
• Digital resources including video interviews with children’s authors, downloadable student pages, and student-friendly scoring guides.
• Classroom resources including six age-appropriate traits of writing posters and organizational accessories such as sticker sheets, hanging folders, and sturdy storage box.

“Scholastic is proud to partner with Ruth to help educators teach writing using the research-driven, student-centered traits model,” said Dr. Lois Bridges, Vice President & Publisher, Scholastic Education. “Traits Crate Plus provides educators with thoughtful and creative lessons that are ready-to-teach today, while providing students with access to engaging and beloved children’s literature.”

For more tips and writing strategies from Ruth Culham, visit: http://bit.ly/2cZqRqw.

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