I taught my students the writing process and reinforced writing a short paragraph with main idea and three supporting details, through a read aloud.
The National Geographic Kids book I read to introduce the prompt was called "How To Survive Anything" by Rachel Buchholz, illustrated by Chris Philpot. All though I only read a few chapters from the book, every one in it is interesting, funny, engaging, and informative. That is why I picked this book for my lesson. I wanted to convey informative writing~with a twist~ to my students. I wanted them to judge/discuss how the author put the book together and wrote each topic and whether or not it was helpful to the reader. The students really enjoyed the stories and when I told them they would be writing their own "How To", they were very excited.
The prompt was "How To Survive the Fifth Grade" and the audience was 4th graders. Each group of 2/3 students (which I prearranged) received a topic to write their paragraph on. We began by looking at the meaning of brainstorming and sharing ideas in whole group. I wrote down the student's topic ideas. The ideas had to be something that they wanted the 4th graders to know about, so they would be better prepared for 5th grade situations. After I had enough topics written on the SMART board, I allowed each group of students to pick a number out of a bucket. The number corresponded to a topic on the board and that was the topic they had to write about.
We looked at the meaning of drafting in the writing process, and I handed out graphic organizers to each student. I walked them through filling out their graphic organizers- based on their topic- as a whole group. I walked around and monitored progress. Once most students had finished, I told them what they were going to do for the paragraphs.
I taught them about revising and editing and finally the meaning of publishing their work. I gave them instructions on how they would revise and edit each others paragraphs and then I let them get started. As they worked, I monitored group progress and gave feedback. I helped students with cooperative work, editing, and revising. The students really enjoyed being able to "speak" to the 4th graders through their writing. As a teachable moment, I stopped to discuss the importance and meaning of tone, and how we can hear an author's tone when we read their writing. Also, we discussed the importance of giving relevant information, so that it could truly be helpful for a 4th grader to read one day.
This became a domino affect on my students and they became more and more enthusiastic about their paragraphs, once they realized that real students would actually be reading their work. This is an example of what I got, in response to the teachable moment during this lesson:
Overall, the lesson went great! It went so well, that I am planning on expanding their paragraphs into a 5 paragraph paper. I will use the same process and create a graphic organizer for this as well. I am looking into ways to take what they have written and convert it digitally into a story book. I will add post to this once I find out what exactly I will be using. So far, this is the best lesson I have taught!
What a great thing to see- all of my students eagerly collaborating in an effort to create something that they are excited for and know about!
The National Geographic Kids book I read to introduce the prompt was called "How To Survive Anything" by Rachel Buchholz, illustrated by Chris Philpot. All though I only read a few chapters from the book, every one in it is interesting, funny, engaging, and informative. That is why I picked this book for my lesson. I wanted to convey informative writing~with a twist~ to my students. I wanted them to judge/discuss how the author put the book together and wrote each topic and whether or not it was helpful to the reader. The students really enjoyed the stories and when I told them they would be writing their own "How To", they were very excited.
The prompt was "How To Survive the Fifth Grade" and the audience was 4th graders. Each group of 2/3 students (which I prearranged) received a topic to write their paragraph on. We began by looking at the meaning of brainstorming and sharing ideas in whole group. I wrote down the student's topic ideas. The ideas had to be something that they wanted the 4th graders to know about, so they would be better prepared for 5th grade situations. After I had enough topics written on the SMART board, I allowed each group of students to pick a number out of a bucket. The number corresponded to a topic on the board and that was the topic they had to write about.
We looked at the meaning of drafting in the writing process, and I handed out graphic organizers to each student. I walked them through filling out their graphic organizers- based on their topic- as a whole group. I walked around and monitored progress. Once most students had finished, I told them what they were going to do for the paragraphs.
I taught them about revising and editing and finally the meaning of publishing their work. I gave them instructions on how they would revise and edit each others paragraphs and then I let them get started. As they worked, I monitored group progress and gave feedback. I helped students with cooperative work, editing, and revising. The students really enjoyed being able to "speak" to the 4th graders through their writing. As a teachable moment, I stopped to discuss the importance and meaning of tone, and how we can hear an author's tone when we read their writing. Also, we discussed the importance of giving relevant information, so that it could truly be helpful for a 4th grader to read one day.
This became a domino affect on my students and they became more and more enthusiastic about their paragraphs, once they realized that real students would actually be reading their work. This is an example of what I got, in response to the teachable moment during this lesson:
What a great thing to see- all of my students eagerly collaborating in an effort to create something that they are excited for and know about!
Here is my writing lesson plan , rubric , and here is the writing lesson ppt that goes along with it.
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