It's that time of year for nonfiction; my favorite genre to teach my young scholars! www.visualccl.com (see mini text feature booklet) I have created large and mini nonfiction text feature cards (color-coded) for my groups to use prior to every ELA (English Language Arts) lesson taught for a week or so. Our first lesson was to join as a large group on the rug in a semi-circle, along with our own nonfiction book/magazine. I called out a text feature and we took turns identifying and raising our hands to share the example in our magazines/books, as one child was called at a time to go to the center of the circle and find the large text feature card to match . We discussed the definitions aloud and enjoyed our scavenger hunt for sure. Every day now, table leaders work with their groups to arrange and match the mini cards as quickly as they can while 3 students arrange the same large cards on the rug for fun. Each group leader asked an "I spy" question about a vocabulary word or definition and the kids practiced reading their matches aloud. Every one of my students can match and write their text features and are having fun doing it. I call this "props with a purpose"... You can find this activity at my store, writingbykim.com (mini text feature booklet) Enjoy!
Posts tagged #ELA
Opinion Writing
I have introduced opinion writing to my students already and they love it. Every time they respond to a question in our Fairy Tale unit, they begin with the words... In my opinion.... (as their topic sentence). They have to give evidence to support their opinion, so they begin the next statement with ... One reason is.... Another reason is..... And lastly, the concluding statement is.... These are the reasons why.... I sue a template for them to work with that sets the framework to their writing. Next we edit the work and some may share aloud as a "commercial break". We usually bring our writing to a final copy and add it to a visual to enhance our lesson. The other day I had the kids color a picture of Cinderella and then I cut the picture into zig-zag pieces. I repositioned the pieces onto light colored paper and the children wrote their final copy between the lines for their Opinion Writing. A few read their work aloud and of course we all held them up for our gallery watch. They are hanging in the classroom now. What an amazing way to bring the Common Core ELA to life. Check out www.visualccl.com for more activities like this one. I have several fairy tale booklets and other ideas for you to consider if you are interested. Enjoy!
Take a puzzling look at a new way with opinion writing! January 2014 Grade 2
Where to Start…
I usually begin the year like all of us; reviewing and teaching the basics. I focus a lot on sentence structure, elaboration, using appropriate grammar, mechanics, and punctuation for sure, as well as the use of vocabulary such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, and the rich vocabulary found in the text. Some of these activity sheets and hands-on activities are available for independent morning work and are accessible for me to grab at any time throughout the day. The following activities are only some options to consider. Just remember there are several ways to include writing and written responses on a daily basis. The English/Language Arts for the Common Core requires writing, so whether you are teaching specific ELA strategies in reading or mini writing lessons; whether you are teaching math, science, or even social studies, your students are always writing, so don’t fret. Your students are and will be writing. Once you are comfortable with this realization, your students will be too. So let’s begin J Check for Visual Reading and Writing Activities for the Common Core in my store. All can be found at www.visualccl.com
Elaborated Sentences
Other Ways to Use This Lesson:
Remember to allow the opportunity for your learners to write “visually”. Let them see the picture before they write. Train them early to ‘visualize’ and see the details. Guaranteed, your students will feel more confident with this approach.
As stated earlier, this lesson can focus on one skill at a time. When you are introducing “verbs” or action words, decide which kind of verb you want them to use and circle those words in their descriptive sentence. The children can use 3 pictures or clip art and compare “verbs” to make and create a verb list or verb pictorial dictionary. This activity can give you an on-going assessment as well. Try this activity with adjectives too.
Elaborated puppet sticks are a creative way to excite the children when they write. Children can use colored pictures, clip art, or their own art work to glue at the end of a craft stick as a puppet. Keep the puppet sticks in a basket to be reused throughout the year. Perhaps your puppet sticks are not of people or characters. Let them create scenery or object puppets too. Depending on the objective taught, if you only want to reinforce elaborative writing, allow the children to take a stick out of the basket and write a descriptive sentence. If the children want to use two puppets as characters, let them describe the puppets in an elaborative sentence while comparing the differences and similarities. The puppet is just a visual to ‘hold’. Their writing can be as creative as an elaborative poem, descriptive paragraph or narrative. Let your experienced writers stretch their imaginations and encourage them to use ‘details’.
Additionally, you can use this activity every week for practice along with reinforcing various topics throughout the year. For instance, you may be reading about birds one week, so allow the children to do a similar activity using pictures of birds. If you have stickers, try them to save time. Just illustrate the background. If time is a challenge, keep pictures or sculptures of animals/people available, with or without a background for your students to use rather than spending time illustrating. If you have time to illustrate, try stencils to trace and add details as needed.
Moreover, create a worksheet with several clip art pictures along the left side of the paper corresponding with a blank line for kids to write an elaborated sentence. Remind the children that color will help their descriptions as well. You can cut the elaborated sentences into strips, glue to construction paper and trim, laminate them and use throughout the year. If you use dry erase markers, the children can color code parts of a sentence by circling each part and simply erase when completed.
Lastly, experienced writers can keep their elaborated work in a personal journal or portfolio to be shared as the year progresses. All you need is a cover. Check for Visual Reading and Writing Activities for the Common Core in my store. All can be found at www.visualccl.com
Silhouette Visuals
See The Art of Visual Writing Book in my store for this idea and more!
Sometimes a visual helps the writer to formulate his/her ideas in sequential order whether they are retelling a story or writing a new one. For example, this pre-writing visual will create a rich vocabulary to ‘draw’ from.
Other Ways to Use This Lesson: Silhouette Visuals
Remember to allow the opportunity for your learners to write with a purpose in mind. Let them see the picture before they write. Train them early to ‘visualize’ and see the details or understand the reasons why they believe what they are writing.
This lesson can focus on various skills. When you are introducing Big Ideas, small moments, main topics, supportive thoughts or descriptive sentences, allow the children to draw on previous knowledge, as well as be inspired by the pictures. Try writing with collages every week and create a journal to collect genre as a class book and share in the classroom library. This activity can give you an on-going progress assessment as well.
Additionally, you can use this activity every week for practice along with reinforcing various topics throughout the year (all you need is a visual). You can also use this activity to enhance existing reading/writing programs. For instance, you may be reading about nature, so allow the children to create a picture inspired by nature. Then, coordinate the writing based on your objectives.
Moreover, allow the children to highlight adjectives and verbs in different colors, identifying its proper use when their writing is complete. Perhaps the children can use their sceneries to inspire their writing about settings or focus on a retell, main topics, as well as topic sentences.
Of course, you can also use non-fiction books/pictures to inspire factual/informative writing. This is a great time for a mini lesson on paragraph writing, research, and main ideas.
The children can create a class collage together. Inspire them to write a whole class narrative or poem ‘in the round’. Each student participates by offering one elaborative sentence each, thus, building on the sequence of events or descriptions. Allow time for discussion and encourage the class to work together. The class can copy the story or poem and it can be printed as a final copy if done on the computer or smart board. Attach to colored paper, embellish, and display as desired.
The class can also focus on particular words when their writing is complete. Have them write synonyms and antonyms to increase their vocabulary, or even creatively use their ideas for analogies. Perhaps they can take each sentence and elaborate them for practice. You can also print the class story and cut the sentences into strips and use to put in sequential order. You can also use the sentence strips as sentences to diagram. Have the children pick-apart the sentence, labeling the parts for practice.
Recreate a story illustration or non-fiction picture with pre-made animal or object cut-outs to inspire riddles. Use a picture to generate ideas and descriptions about the scene without giving all the information away. End the paragraph with a question and see if other kids can answer the riddle. You will be amazed at the various responses and ideas they will write about the same visual.
Another way to use their scenery is to create a main character out of scraps and glue on top of the background. This visual will be a great inspiration for character development and focusing on the main character. You can glue the existing picture to a larger piece of colored construction paper, leaving a framed-edge. Either type or write words or phrases that describe the main character along the frame.
If you want to be more creative, try using stencils, foam paper, pre-printed pattern paper, pre-made animal shapes or stickers to create a subject/character to be glued on top of the scenery. The ideas are limitless.
Share aloud with classmates. Create a bulletin board, collect the writing and include in your classroom library. All can be found at www.visualccl.com
