Writing About Need To Know Information

Writing, Writing, Writing!  It's important to keep those students writing ...no matter what age.  I like to have some type of writing assignment going at all times.  Most assignments serve to see if the students are using their skills I've  been working on regarding grammar, punctuation, proper punctuation, correct possessive and plural use ...you name it. 

I always stress to them to use beautiful words... $$ words, not nickel words.  Awesome adjectives, colorful verbs, super sentence starters are a must!  I give my students an abundant amount of adjectives to encourage them to include in their writing.  Encouraging them to use their five senses by including words to help the reader see, hear, smell, feel will allow the reader to better engage in the written word.

This week we're including agriculture into our writing in a couple of ways.  After teaching them a couple songs, "Plant A Seed And Watch It Grow", (to the tune "It's A Small World After all") and Popcorn, (based on the Tomie dePaola Popcorn Book)  my students are writing about planting, germinating, growing and knowing where their food comes from.   When complete, they'll receive a coupon for a kids meal.  (Thank you Granite City)

When done writing about the history of "popcorn",  we'll have a "Popcorn Party"!  

(Remember...songs assist literacy in a variety of ways...the left to right aspect, the tune pulls them through more difficult words, they've got spelling words/vocabulary words right there accessible to them, in addition to providing them with facts and details.)

It's fun to include food that students eat in their daily lives.   Often the educational aspect is just waiting to be brought to the surface to enjoy too.