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| Overview |
Learning to write nonfiction text is an important literacy skill. This lesson guides students in writing descriptions of 100th day bottles they create at home. They will write clues about their bottles for a guessing game, practice descriptive writing, and create a class book.
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| From Theory to Practice |
Wray, D., & Lewis, M. (1998). An approach to factual writing. Reading Online. Available: http://www.readingonline.org/articles/writing/index.html
"Our literate society demands that we read and write a wide range of texts." Since a great deal of the texts we read and write as adults are nonfiction, it is important that we guide children in learning how to competently read and write in the different nonfiction genres. This lesson provides students with practice in descriptive writing, along with opportunities to read their own and their classmates' written descriptions.
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| Student Objectives |
Students will develop descriptive writing skills by
- Writing three descriptive clues for the items in their 100th day bottle
- Completing a worksheet that involves writing descriptions about the items in their 100th day bottle
- Creating a page about their 100th day bottle to contribute to a class book
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| Instructional Plan |
Preparation
The lesson can be completed in three class sessions. The first session should take place prior to the 100th day of school, the second session on the 100th day, and the third session after the 100th day.
In preparation for the at-home activity, prepare a sample 100th day bottle to share with students as a model of what they will be doing at home. Write out three descriptive clues and place a label on the bottle. Place the bottle in a bag to conceal it. Have another empty bottle on hand.
Instruction and Activities
Session 1 (prior to the 100th day of school)
| 1. |
Prepare students for the project they will be working on at home for the 100th day of school.
- Show students the bag that holds the 100th day bottle you prepared in advance of the lesson.
- Explain that you have placed a bottle inside the bag that contains 100 of the same item. Display the empty bottle to show students the size of the bottle and to give them an idea of what could fit inside.
- Read one clue at a time to students, allowing them to guess the item in between each clue. You may want to write the clues on the board or on an overhead so that students can see how you wrote the clues as you read them.
- After reading the clues and letting students guess what items are inside, reveal your 100th day bottle. Review the clues you wrote and discuss with students how they described the items in the bottle. Point out the label you created for the bottle also.
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| 2. |
Inform students that they will be working at home to create their own 100th day bottles, and they will also be learning how to write descriptions about the items they decide to place inside. Tell them that they will be playing a game to guess what is in each other's bottles and it will be important to bring the bottle to school in a bag and not to tell anyone in class what item they used.
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| 3. |
Send home information about the project to students' parents or caregivers. Each student should take home:
- The parent letter, which explains the project and provides a date for the bottles to be returned to school. [It is recommended that the bottles be returned at least two days before the 100th day to allow all children to get their bottles in to school.]
- One label from the sheet of 100th day bottle labels for students to affix to their bottle
- A copy of the 100th day bottle: Clues worksheet for students to write three descriptive clues about the items in their bottle
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Note: Have some inexpensive materials (e.g., paper clips, thumbtacks, or rubber bands) readily available at school to assist any students who need help finding items for their bottle at home.
Session 2 (on the 100th day of school)
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To kick off the 100th day of school, begin with any of the following activities:
- Write the number 100 on the board and ask students, "What number is this?"
- Count to 100 together.
- Read one of the books on the 100th day of school booklist.
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| 2. |
Invite students to play the 100th day bottle guessing game.
- Have students take turns reading aloud to the class the clues from their 100th day bottle: Clues worksheet.
- Invite other students in the class to guess what items may be in the bottle after each clue is read. If no one guesses what is inside the bottle after all three clues are read, guide the presenting student in thinking of additional descriptive clues to assist the class in guessing the items in his or her bottle.
- Continue until all students have had a turn to read their clues.
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| 3. |
Lead students in a class discussion as they compare the various items included in their classmates' bottles. Some topics and questions are:
- Comparison: How are the items the same? How are they different?
- Weight: Which bottles are heavy, and which are light?
- Space: Do the items take up a lot of space in the bottle or a little space?
- Sound: Do any of the items make noise when they are shaken? What kind of noise do they make?
- Color: Are the items in the bottle the same color or multiple colors?
- Shape: What are the shapes of some of the items?
- Smell: Would any of the items have a scent if the top of the bottle were taken off?
Explain to students that these are the types of things to think about and include when writing descriptions.
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| 4. |
Discuss with students why certain clues were better than others. Did anyone use the same clue even though they had different objects, such as "It is made out of metal" for paperclips and nails? Which clues were easy to figure out? Which ones were hard? Which ones were general and which ones were specific?
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| 5. |
After the class discussion, have students work on completing one of the following writing worksheets, depending on their individual writing abilities.
These worksheets will assist students in writing descriptions of their bottles at their individual levels. Allow time for students to review and revise their writing as necessary.
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Session 3
In this session, students will create and publish a class book about their 100th day bottles. The purpose of this activity is to create a book that all students in the class will be able to read. The book is simple in format and follows the same pattern for each page. This will allow each student to not only read about the bottle he or she made, but also read about classmates' bottles. A photograph or illustration will be used on each page to link to the descriptions the students write.
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Provide each student a blank copy of the book page to fill out. For example:
Marshall brought 100 chocolate chips to school in his bottle. They are small and brown.
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Have each student visually document the bottle that he or she created by either taking a photograph or drawing an illustration of the bottle. Include it on the bottom half of the book page.
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| 3. |
Assemble and bind the students' pages together along with the cover page to make a class book.
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| 4. |
Read the book aloud to the class and place it in the classroom reading area for students to enjoy on their own.
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Extensions
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| Student Assessment/Reflections |
Assessment for this lesson primarily involves keeping anecdotal notes, observing students during the lessons, and evaluating their completed work. The assessment form can be used for record keeping.
Students' descriptive writing abilities can be assessed:
- From the clues they write
- From the writing worksheet they complete
- From the page they create for the class book
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1 - Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
3 - Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
4 - Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
5 - Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
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