Jo Anne DeshonJohn R. Downes Elementary School
302-738-9524 (home)220 Casho Mill Road
wark, DE 19711
Literature for Mini-lessons
Part I – Good Books to Use (and Mini-lessons to Do) at the Beginning of the Year
Part II – Other Good Books to Use (Listed in Alphabetical Order by Mini-lesson Topics)
Part I – Good Books to Use (and Mini-lessons to Do) at the Beginning of the Year
WHY DO PEOPLE WRITE?
Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type – Doreen Cronin
(Cows write some persuasive letters to the farmer… we write to get things!)
sequel… Giggle, Giggle, Quack (The farmer and the duck do some writing… we write to communicate.)
Don’t Forget to Write – Martina Selway
(A little girl writes to her mother to share her thoughts.)
Grandfather’s Pencil and the Room of Stories – Michael Foreman
(We write to entertain and inform… this book has both… creative)
CHOOSING A TOPIC
Arthur Writes a Story - Marc Brown
(Arthur writes a good story… until he tries to write what everyone else tells him he should write)
Rotten Teeth – Laura Simms
(Melissa has to choose something interesting for Show and Tell)
The Great Sea Monster – Berthe Amoss
(a Houghton Mifflin Theme Book… may not be available in bookstore? A young writer explains how he/she begins to write a book with things he/she knows about and likes.)
Emma’s Rug – Allen Say
(Emma gets her inspiration for drawing from a rug. Discuss from where do writers get their inspiration? What inspires you? Can also talk about using their imagination.)
CHOOSING TOPICS – TALKING ABOUT INTEREST INVENTORIES
I Like Books – Anthony Browne
Things I Like – Anthony Browne
All About You – Catherine and Laurence Anholt
(These three books are probably best for young writers – kindergarten and first grade… prepares them to think about their own interests.)
I Like Myself – Karen Beaumont
(What do you like about yourself? Write about yourself!)
I Love Saturday – Patricia Reilly Giff
(Read this book, talk about what you love, fill in some interest inventories. Keep the inventories in your Writing Workshop folders and refer to them when you’re stuck on a topic.)
WRITING MEMORIES/PERSONAL NARRATIVES/MEMOIRS/BIOGRAPHIES
I Like to Be Little – Charlotte Zolotow
When I Was Young in the Mountains – Cynthia Rylant
The Art Lesson – Tomie dePaola (Tomie’s life in elementary school)
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born – Jamie Lee Curtis
When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old’s Memoir of Her Youth – Jamie Lee Curtis
A Little Excitement – Marc Harshman (This book is also good for endings and titles.)
Picture Perfect? – second-grade students of Fletcher Walker Elementary in Westwood, CA
(This is a simple book about students on picture day, but kids could just write simple stories/sentences about themselves, not just themselves on picture day.)
For older students:
Ma Dear’s Aprons – Patricia C. McKissack
(Share some family history… pass down some stories… record them before they’re forgotten.)
WRITING MEMORIES/PERSONAL NARRATIVES/MEMOIRS/BIOGRAPHIES (continued)
In My Momma’s Kitchen – Jerdine Nolen
(Passing down family stories.)
Something to Remember Me By – Susan V. Bosak
Learning to Swim in Swaziland – Nila K. Leigh
Daisy and the Doll – Michael Medearis and Angela Shelf Medearis
BOOKS I READ TO “PROMPT” KIDS TO WRITE WHEN THEY’RE “STUCK”
(I read these as a read aloud and refer to them later… rather than as part of a mini-lesson.)
Dance Tanya – Patricia Reilly Gauch
(Write about something you love, something you do well.)
I Want a Dog – Dayal Kaur Khalsa
(Write about something you want.)
My Old Car – written by the first-grade students of Richmond Elementary School
(Write about something you have. Book also shows students that kids are authors.)
How I Spent My Summer Vacation – Mark Teague
(Tell students to write about their summer vacation… of course, Mark exaggerates his story!)
GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS
Resource – Graphic Organizers… helping children think visually – Kris Flynn (Creative Teaching Press)
DETAILS/DESCRIPTION
Toad – Ruth Brown
(wonderful descriptive words!)
My Dog Truffle – Lynn Reiser
(Simple sentences make this book better for young writers, but I have used it with third graders to talk about using your five senses to get more details in your writing.)
The Seashore Book – Charlotte Zolotow
(Some great descriptive words - Charlotte describes the seashore.)
SHARING SESSIONS
M & M’s – try to help your friends find some m & m’s (missing and mixed-up information).
ADD FEELINGS TO YOUR WRITING
Feelings – Aliki
(I just share a few pages of this book, which talks about feelings. I tell students that their writing is more powerful if they add feelings, it gives their audiences something to which they can relate.)
Sometimes I Feel Like a Mouse – Jeanne Modesitt
Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day – Jamie Lee Curtis
PEER CONFERENCING
Talk about the author’s and listener’s responsibilities.
OPENINGS/BEGINNINGS
Ming Lo Moves the Mountain – Arnold Lobel
The Ghost-Eye Tree – Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault
(I just read the first page and ask, “What do good readers often do in the very first sentence, or page, of a book?” Arnold tells the setting—time and place, the main characters, and a problem that needs to be solved. Bill and John do the same)
OPENINGS/BEGINNINGS (continued)
I just read the first paragraph or page of these books:
The Bad Beginning – Lemony Snicket
James and the Giant Peach – Roald Dahl
Tar Beach – Faith Ringgold
The Bat Poet – Randall Jarrell
Daisy and the Doll – Michael Medearis and Angela Shelf Medearis
The Paperboy – Dav Pilkey (I read the whole book because I like the beginning and it has a circular
ending that takes us back to the beginning.)
ENDINGS
Cinderella’s Rat – Susan Meddaugh
(a great book to use to talk about circular endings… it takes you write back to the beginning. The book has a really great beginning too!)
Jumanji – Chris Van Allsburg (circular ending)
The Fire Station – Robert Munsch (circular ending)
Tuesday – David Wiesner
(Almost a wordless picture book… good for young writers… circular ending)
The Wednesday Surprise – Eve Bunting
(Most kids are really surprised at the end.)
The Recess Queen – Alexis O’Neill
(a surprise ending, but also good for voice and descriptive words)
“MIDDLES”
Jack’s Tale – Ellen Stoll Walsh
(After talking about beginnings and endings, this book is fun to read - it talks about the middle of a story.)
WRITING A PARAGRAPH
Freight Train – Donald Crews (Talk about trains… engine and caboose… paragraphs need a beginning and ending – just like a train. The cars on a train are supporting details. I bringin a little train too… Brio or Lego train. Book may be better for young writers, but I have used it quickly with 3rd graders.)
WRITING THE “FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY”
Some people like this resource book (it’s a good starting place for new teachers) – 10 Lessons to Improve Writing Scores (Scholastic)
THE WRITING PROCESS
What Do Authors Do? – Eileen Christelow
What Do Illustrators Do? – Eileen Christelow
How a Book Is Made – Aliki
Do Not Open this Book! – Michaela Muntean
ABC of Jobs – Roger Priddy (the end of this book talks about the jobs for writing a book)
(Read books like these three and talk about the writing process. Look for books published by children such as Kids Are Authors books by Scholastic. Share pieces of writing you may have published or pieces published by students in previous classes. Try to keep samples of students’ published pieces… as well as webs, rough drafts, revised and edited texts. Commercial posters also describe the process. I also show books that I’ve gotten signed by the authors… talk about how exciting it is to meet “famous” authors.)
REVISIONS
Just for You – Mercer Mayer
(The cover shows YU crossed out, replaced with YOU.)
The Principal from the Black Lagoon – Mike Thaler (Teacher is crossed out on the cover, replaced with Principal)
Part II – Other Good Books to Use (Listed in Alphabetical Order by Mini-lesson Topics)
A FEW more topics for mini-lessons!
ADJECTIVES
Things that are most in the world – Judi Barrett
(A fun book for adjectives – but also for talking about creativity and imagination.)
Many Luscious Lollipops – Ruth Heller
Hairy, Scary, Ordinary – What is an Adjective? – Brian P. Cleary
Two simple books for young writers:
Lunch – Denise Fleming
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR – Don and Audrey
Wood (also a good book to use for endings)
AUTHOR PAGES AND “REVIEWS/SUMMARIES”
- Look at book jackets for paragraphs about the author and illustrator. Kids may have fun writing their “own” author paragraphs and including the information in their published books!
- Look at the back of covers for one-line “reviews” of the book (often quotes from newspaper and magazine reviews).
- Look at book jackets for descriptions of the books that entice readers. Kids can try writing “commercials” for their books to add to their published pieces.
- Save author pages from book club magazines! They’re great for “Meet the Author” bulletin boards! Have famous and student authors on the same board!
Joy Cowley Writes – Joy Cowley (The Wright Group – Sunshine Books)
The Sing-song Tree – (The Wright Group – Sunshine Books) This book is a collection of stories, most of them are written by Joy. It begins with: All About…Joy Cowley.
Chapter book for higher-level writers:
How I Came to Be a Writer – Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
When I was Your Age – Original Stories About Growing Up – Amy Ehrlich, editor
(Volumes I and II – Essays by famous children’s authors.)
BILINGUAL STUDENTS/USING DIALECT
Here Comes the Cat! – Frank Asch
(Use with bilingual students. Explain: You can write in your language and then English.)
No is No, Si is Yes – Ana Galan
(Ask bilingual student to teach us some of their language.)
Read these two books and talk about adding dialect/voice to your writing:
Possum Come a-Knockin’ – Nancy Van Laan
Bein’ with You This Way – W. Nikola-Lisa
BOOK REPORTS
Look for book reports written by children in “book club magazines.” Cut out the book reports, buy the books, and glue the reports on the inside covers. Share the books and book reports with your class as models they can use when they write book reports.
CAPTIONS FOR PICTURES
Seven Little Rabbits – John Becker (good for young writers still doing a lot of pictures)
CHANGING PAPER
Sometimes, young writers are motivated by using different kinds (colors, shapes, styles) of paper. Share these books that have some “paper changes.”
The Hide-and-seek Book of Animals – Jenny and Tim Wood
Peek-a-boo! – Janet and Allan Ahlberg
CHANGING PAPER (continued)
Pie in the Sky – Lois Ehlert
Leaf Man – Lois Ehlert
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Uncle Jed’s Barbershop – Margaree King Mitchell
(Margaree develops Uncle Jed – you can’t help but love and admire this character!)
CLUTTER/STAYING FOCUSED
COMPLETE SENTENCES/SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
Ten Little Rabbits – Virginia Grossman (This book needs helping verbs!)
I get lesson ideas from Write on Track and Writers Express – Dave Kemper, Ruth Nathan, Patrick Sebranek (published by Write Source, Houghton Mifflin – handbooks for young writers, thinkers, and learners)
COMPOUND WORDS
Jamberry – Bruce Degen (fun with word choice)
DESCRIPTIVE LANGUAGE
Animal Analogies –Fourth-Grade Students of Six to Six Interdistrict Magnet School
(This book is fun to use because it’s written by students. It’s a simple book that gets kids thinking about word choice… which words best describe what you want to say?)
All of these books have wonderful language/description:
Come On, Rain! – Karen Hesse
Henny-Penny – Jane Wattenberg
Red Fox Running – Eve Bunting
The Sea Chest – Toni Buzzeo
Twilight Comes Twice – Ralph Fletcher
Home Place – Crescent Dragonwagon (this book is also good for beginnings)
Feathers and Fools – Mem Fox
All the Colors of the Earth – Sheila Hamanaka
Chicks and Salsa – Aaron Reynolds
The Recess Queen – Alexis O’Neill
DESCRIPTIVE VERBS
Chicken Little– Steven Kellogg
(This book is good to use for talking about word choice – other words for said, descriptive verbs, and using quotation marks.)
DEVELOPING A STORY
These short stories introduce setting and characters, have problems and resolutions.
Willy and Hugh – Anthony Browne
Willy the Wizard – Anthony Browne
DIALOGUE/QUOTATION MARKS
Peanut Butter Rhino – Vincent Andriani (This book has “speech bubbles” instead of
quotation marks… nice way to begin a discussion of quotation marks.)
The Chick and the Duckling – Mirra Ginsburg
(This is a simple book that has dialogue and uses quotation marks.)
“Fire! Fire!” Said Mrs. McGuire – Bill Martin, Jr.
The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash – Steven Kellogg
(This book uses quotation marks, but does not say who is speaking!)
DIARIES/JOURNALS
Amelia’s Notebook – Marissa Moss (There are at least 8 other books in the series! I use these
books when kids seem to get bored with writing and begin to groan… These books are fun! I give kids small journals and they write in journals for a few days/weeks.)
Rachel’s Journal – The Story of a Pioneer Girl – Marissa Moss
(There are others in this series too. These books are historical fiction.)
Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe – Vera B. Williams
Canoe Diary – Nic Bishop (
Dilly’s Summer Camp Diary – Cynthia C. Lewis (This diary looks fun and includes photographs.)
Max’s Logbook – Marissa Moss (Boy’s version of Amelia’s Notebook?)
Diary of a Worm – Doreen Cronin
Diary of a Spider – Doreen Cronin
EDITING
FUN WITH WORDS AND LANGUAGE
Splish Splash – Joan Bransfield Graham (Fun - some shape poems)
Suddenly! – Colin McNaughton (Kids may start to use the word suddenly in their writing!)
Velcome – Kevin O’Malley (Kevin plays around with print… changes font size, boldness, etc.)
Mr. Fine, Porcupine – Fanny Joly (another book where the author changes print size)
The 13th Clue – Ann Jonas (Words are hidden in the illustrations.)
Andy (That’s My Name) – Tomie dePaola (Tomie plays with letters to make new words.)
CDB! – William Steig (William plays with letters – the entire book uses letters to represent words.
I also use this book to talk about why writers write… to have fun with language!)
Word Wizard – Cathryn Falwell (Kathryn moves around letters to make new words)
(Bruce’s website has some jokes that play with words.)
Rhyme and Punishment – Brian P. Cleary (puns)
GRAMMAR
HOW-TO-BOOKS
How a House is Built – Gail Gibbons (non-fiction, has diagrams and labels)
Make a Leaf Rubbing – Margaret Ballinger and Rachel Gosset (Scholastic, only available through
school market. Very short and simple – good for young writers.)
HUMOR
Pickle Things – Marc Brown (a silly book about pickles)
Slugs – David Greenberg (Boys like this silly and “gross” book about slugs.)
Amelia Bedelia – Peggy Parish
Morris Has a Cold – Bernard Wiseman
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs – Judi Barrett
A Little Pigeon Toad – Fred Gwynne
A Chocolate Moose for Dinner – Fred Gwynne
A Writer’s Notebook: How to Write Funny Stories – Rachel E. Lisberg
(a Scholastic writing guide)
ILLUSTRATING
Talking With Artists (Share biographies of famous illustrators.)
IMAGINATION
Tomorrow’s Alphabet – George Shannon
(A is for seed… tomorrow’s apple, b is for egg… tomorrow’s bird)
If… – Sarah Perry (some creative ideas in this book)
Hey! Get Off Our Train – John Burningham (using your imagination, dreaming…)
KEY DETAILS
Pages 60-63 in Ralph Fletcher’s book, What a Writer Needs
LETTER WRITING
Messages in the Mailbox: How to Write a Letter – Loreen Leedy (all kinds of letters!)
A Letter to Amy – Ezra Jack Keats
Dear Mr. Blueberry – Simon James (writing letters, asking questions, waiting for responses)
Giving Thanks: A Native American Good Morning Message – Chief Jake Swamp (could read
before doing thank you notes)
Nice Try, Tooth Fairy – Mary Olson (the tooth fairy doesn’t write back!)
Stringbean’s Trip to the Shining Sea – Vera B. Williams (writing post cards)