Writing My First Report

Subject: Language Arts

Grades: K-2 (Ages 5-8)

Standards - Language Arts

• Uses a variety of organizational structures within writing
• Uses a variety of forms of writing
• Uses strategies to write for a variety of purposes
• Use strategies to write for a variety of audiences
   

Standards - Process/Thinking

• Applies decision-making skills and strategies
• Understands that animals have basic needs
• Understands that living organisms have specific structures and body systems
• Understands that animals are found in distinct environments

  Description

This Kidspiration® activity supports lower elementary students in learning how to write and illustrate a simple informational report or book about an animal. They will use the Kidspiration workspace, including access to more than 3000 symbols, to gather and record information, and begin the writing process.

Instructions
 

1. Prior to the lesson, select a nonfiction text about an animal, appropriate to the class’ listening comprehension level.
2. Open My First Report.kia, as shown below, from the following location: Kidspiration 3 Teacher menu>Teacher Resources Online>Lesson Plans>Grades K-2>Reading and Writing>Forms of Writing>Informational Writing. Save the Zip file and open the activity. Review it with students

3. Explain that students will write a report/book about an animal together. This kind of writing is called informational writing because you are sharing information, facts or truths about something. Today that something is an animal. Further explain that before writing, they will read a book in order to learn about the animal. (Note: At this time, you may identify an audience and purpose for the writing. For example, you may share that the principal was curious about leopards, so she wants to know more about them. Your students are therefore going to learn about them and share what they learn by writing a book.)
4. Prior to reading the text, set the purpose for listening. Point to the symbols in the activity and remind students that they need to learn where the animal lives, how it moves, something about the animal’s babies, and what kind of food the animal eats.
5. Read the selected text aloud to the class.
6. Return to the My First Report.kia activity. Using a shared writing model, complete the activity using pictures and words. Have students help with spelling as appropriate.
7. Switch to Writing View and model for students how to use the pictures and words from Picture View to write complete, simple sentences. When appropriate, ask students to help with spelling, punctuation, etc.
8. If the final publication is to be a simple report, students may print the text as is. If students are publishing a book, they can print the text from Writing View, cut the sentences apart, and paste them into a handmade book which they can then illustrate.
9. Once the activity has been modeled, have students complete the activity independently, reading text at their independent reading levels.

    

Assessment

• Confirm that the facts which have been recorded about the animal are correct.
• Assess students’ writing for inventive and conventional spelling, spaces between words, complete thoughts, etc. Make instructional decisions based upon the assessment.

Lesson Adaptations

• Depending on students’ reading levels, you may read a book aloud and students may complete the activity independently
• Students may work in pairs to complete the activity.
• Each student’s individually published book may be combined to form a class chapter book about animals. You may use this additional step in the lesson to teach students about a table of contents. With your support, have students write a table of contents for their animal chapter book.