Another Picture Book For Writing

Here's another book I read to my 3 year old last week, but I can't wait to share it with my 4th graders in writing class.

You Get What You Get by Julie Gassman, illustrated by Sarah Horne

Melvin is learning that we don't always get what we want.  He's having a hard time with all this.  {Don't we all!}  At school they have the mantra, "You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit."  He ends up taking the lesson home, and the book ends with proof that he did learn the lesson.  It's another quick read.

My 3 year old said this was a really good book, and he is a surprisingly tough critic.  I like the illustrations, too.

So how would I use this for writing?  I have a few ideas:

Here are 2 possible journal prompts:

Write about a time when you didn't get something you wanted.

Write about a time when you forgot this saying, and you threw a fit.  {Kids are usually so honest!}

Class discussion before writing:

Make a list of other important sayings your students have heard, and then they can choose one about which to write a story.  {I want to think of a little list because sometimes kids have a hard time with this.}  To expand the authenticity of the writing, the stories could be shared with younger students or actually tuned into picture books.  I think this will be a good spot to talk a bit about fables, too.

Community journal:


I think I'm going to put a picture of the book cover on the front of a notebook, and then I'm going to offer all 3 of the prompts above, and students can take turns writing and illustrating stories--either fictional or biographical.

What ideas do you have for making writing more power-full?

Here is where I shared another book.