Saturday, July 26, 2014

Writing Informational Text with 1st & 2nd Graders

Reading and writing Informational Texts are an important part of the Common Core Standards.  To make these Informational Text Features more meaningful for my students, I created an Informational Text Features book that each child researches and writes.  My “I Can Write All About Science” is my favorite writing project that I do with my students each year.  I have done this project for many years with first and second graders.  This project is so versatile that you will be able to use it for any topic you’d like!  In the past, my classes have made books on sharks, whales, fish, and penguins, but any topic that interests your young scientists will work!   You can include some or all of the pages, picking and choosing which text features are appropriate for your students.


















We start by learning about a text feature each day and I have the kids search through informational texts to find examples.  I read aloud about penguins (or whichever topic we were learning about) and the students use the new information for their writing project.  Depending on the needs of your students, you may need to spend 13 days per text feature.  This past year, my class had to go slower due to so many students being pulled out for Speech, LD, ESOL, and RTI.  Kids who finish early have the option to make additional pages with illustrations and captions.
 I put the definition on the document projector so that kids can copy it into their own books.  My students who are pulled out a lot during the day get a copy of the definition and they just cut them out and paste them into their books to save time.

When we finish the books, I have the kids make Eric Carle style painted papers to make the animal for the cover.  Before putting them on the covers, we use them in the hallway for a big bulletin board display.  Be sure to have the kids make some penguins small enough to fit on their cover, in addition to larger ones that they can take home.

Click the title page above or HERE to check it out at my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

What are your favorite writing activities for kids in the first or second grade?  I'd love to hear some new ideas!
Happy Teaching!
Corinna



4 comments:

  1. Would it be possible for you to tell me who made the adorable clip art of the girl holding the frog? My whole classroom theme is frogs. I would truly appreciate it!
    Thanks,
    Lynn

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    Replies
    1. Hi Lynn,
      That is a cutie pie picture, isn't it? It is from Melonheadz. It is from the School Subjects set. Check her out on TpT!

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  2. Corinna, This looks amazing. My intern and I did a project similar to this last year where the students all picked an animal to research and write about. I loved the cross curricular learning. I will definitely check out your unit as it has more components than we used. Thanks:)

    Tammy
    The Resourceful Apple

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Tammy! Every year I seem to add more features--more than we need. :) But, I just had to update it to include new technology, right? I love this project and the kids are SO proud of their finished product! Thanks a bunch for stopping by!

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