Writing Focus - Feature Articles

Our second writing unit is a more interesting form of informational writing--we are writing feature articles.  This idea came out of some of our teacher sessions with the educational consultant Matt Glover, on teaching writing through inquiry.

We began the unit with an immersion into reading a variety of feature articles,  noticing things they all had in common that made them stand out.  We discovered that this worked best if we read the articles twice--the first time as a reader, just to see what the article was about.  Then we read the article again as a writer, noticing things the author did to catch our attention.

Our feature articles came from a variety of children's magazines, such as Ranger Rick, National Geographic for Kids, Scholastic.  Feature articles become the mentor texts for this unit, and we refer back to them many times throughout the unit.

I worked with each table group of six students.  First we read one article all together, talking about some of the things we noticed.  Then each student read an article and reported back to the table some of the things they "noticed" in their article.  We made a list of all the "noticings", especially when the "noticing" appeared in several of the articles.  While I worked with a group, the other tables were doing some of their reading rotations--one group worked on IDR (Independent Daily Reading) and another group worked on the comprehension activity of the week--finding the main idea.

Some of the things we noticed.  

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In the next mini-lesson, we took a closer look at how the author organized the information.   First we gathered on the carpet as I modeled reading the article and noticing how the information was organized.  (Our lessons on main idea and supporting details really came in handy here!)   Then students went back to their table groups and I gave each table one of the mentor articles to "look closer" at.  Students presented their findings to the class.

My clever students figured out that since they were already doing so much research about biomes for their Unit of Inquiry projects, that it would be a natural fit to have their feature article tie in to that presentation.  I just love it when our Units of Inquiry have a natural fit in several areas, and love it even more when the kids make the connections!

Personal Narrative Writing - Planning and Drafting

So we've got all those ideas flowing out of us, and now it's time to commit that one special story to paper.

First I had my students take a piece of A-4 paper (regular copy paper) and fold it in half into  a "hamburger" fold.  We repeated this twice more for a total of three folds.  (It's always fun to throw a little math at them and have them predict how many rectangles they will end up with and they are usually surprised when it is not six!)   So we end up with a piece of paper divided into 8 small rectangles.

Now the kids take their story idea and plot it into the squares.  I showed them my story, all plotted out, and how I figured out the beginning and ending box first, and sort of aimed to have the most exciting part of the action in about the 5th or 6th box.  You could also look at your story on a plot diagram and talk about the rising action, the climax of the story, etc..

Hee Young plotting out her story!

Stories all plotted out

I was most excited that even my beginner ESL students had success with this.  From the drawings and their text explaining the drawings, it was fairly easy for students to work these into a first draft on their personal narratives.

Personal Narrative Writing - Setting the stage

So personal narratives, or a story from one's own life, should be one of the easiest types of writing to do, right?  But that blank white piece of paper staring at the average 4th grader is still a daunting canvas.  As a teacher, I have really changed the amount of time I spend on pre-writing.  First, I like to convince my students that they actually do have stories to tell!

I start off very innocuously,  mentioning some memories from my childhood of very typical childhood experiences. This may happen at odd times, like snack time or morning meeting starting several days before we are set to begin the unit.  I may mention the time I had to get stitches, the time I went camping, the time I had a wiggly tooth and my dad yanked it out with a pair of pliers!  And you know what?  Nearly every hand in the room is up wanting to tell their memories of those experiences.  Next, we played a little game with a deck of conversation cards--we sat in a circle and passed the cards.  Each student drew a card--like "Tell about a time you were surprised" and then told a quick story about their life experience.  Then my students decided they would like to do a couple of rounds in their table groups so they would get to "tell more stories".  Yeah!  Exactly what I was hoping for!  I used a deck of conversation cards that I happened to find in Iceland (fortunately the cards were in both Icelandic and English!).

 

With all those stories and memories swirling in our heads, it's now time to do some "heart mapping".  There are various lessons and ideas out there on this concept, but I really like Georgia Heard's Heart Mapping activity.

Students select their favorite narrative idea and then pair up to retell the story to a partner.  I find that telling the story first makes it much easier to write about.    And after all this idea generating, we will soon be ready for those blank white pages!  More coming soon...

Our Interviews - Meet 4LB!

Sylvia

If Sylvia had three wishes she would give everyone food, have a house of gold and have a private jet. She also wants to go to Hawaii and have a big house near the sea with coconuts.  Once she dreamed that she was on a train to Hogwarts and dementors came and sucked her soul out. Sylvia’s favorite holiday is Christmas and she celebrates it by having dinner,having presents and eating treats. When she grows up, Sylvia will be a dentist. She will achieve it by practising it.                           written by Sasha

Erika

Erika, if you had 3 wishes what will you wish ?(ps-no wishes for more wishes!)

1.one cat ,2. 5000 daller ,3. Golist to any sickthis

Describe your dream vacation?

In the tropical  forest.

What is a dream you ve had that sticks in your mind?

Nothing.

                                  written by Taejun       

RYO   

The person I’m interviewing is Ryo. Ryo said if she had 2 wishes she would want to fly,so she could feel the air.Then her other wish would be to have super powers.A dream she remembers is a happy dream with unicorns.

Her favorite holiday is Christmas because she gets presents. If she wanted to have a dream vacation she would go to the beach so she can swim in the cool water. When she grows up she wants to be an artist because she loves to draw.Her whole family is Japanese. Her favorite  place she has been is the beach because she likes to swim. She has been to summer camp and she said it was fun. Her hobby is reading because she has been reading for  long time.    written BY: THOMAS

David

.what is a dream you've had that sticks in your mind?

In his dream he was in london. And he was living in london,  he was by himself. And he was  happy when he was in  london.

.what do you want  to be when you grow up and how will you achieve that?

He wanted to be a Doctor when he grows up.And  he will achieve  that he will help a children. If a  child is sick he will help them.

.Tell me  a little about your family ……

His mom is 35 years old  She cares and helps the pets david has 3 pets.  His dad work in the oil industry and has a business in Moscow.

.Have you ever been to summer camp?What is that like?

yes.sometimes its hard because you are by yourself  without your family.  Sometimes its fun when get special activities.

.What is your favorite hobby and how did you get interested in it?

He loves to do artistic things.                interviewed by by: Hee Young  park

Taejun

If Taejun Had three wishes he would spend them on Friends, Russian language and Every book in the world. Taejun would spend his dream vacation in the forest camping. Taejun doesn't remember any dream he had before. Taejun's most Important holiday is Halloween.Taejun doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up. Taejun has one brother and one little sister.

He doesn't have a favorite place he’s visited before.      Interviewed by:  Erika

Maria

If Maria had three wishes she would want to have a dog and that everybody had money and that she had a mansion. Her dream vacation is to be at an underwater hotel. A dream that still sticks in her mind is that she was in school and everybody was tiny and a polar bear with a face of a human ate her. A holiday that is most important to her is Christmas because she stays at her grandma’s house and saw Santa . When Maria grows up she wants to be an astronaut. In her family she has a stepmother and a stepbrother and a stepsister. A favorite place she’s been to is dubai.  The hotel was one of the best hotels in the world. Her favorite hobby is climbing. She started climbing an apple tree  and got bored then she climbed a pine tree and now she has a tree house in a pine tree.    by:Sylvia

Maya

Maya’s three wishes would be : 1. To live in a huge peach. 2. To be tiny. 3. To own a library in the peach. Maya’s dream that is still stuck in her head is when Puss In Boots attacked her. Maya’s most important holiday is Christmas. And she celebrates it by going to her Grandparents house in Australia. When she grows up she will want to be a librarian. And she will accomplish this by working very hard in university. Maya told me that in her family she has one sister, one mother, and one father.       By Massimo

Asya

She would like a mansion,9 labradors and a ice cream maker.  For vacation she wants to go to Spain with her dog.  She didn't remember any dreams.She likes newyear. she stays up all night and do the countdown from 12, eat a type of salad,gets together with her family  and give presents.Her family is her,mom,dad.Her hobby is art.

                                                              By Joseph

Lucas

I am interviewing Lucas

• If lucas had three wishes the 1 one would be

to Fly

His second would be to become a billionaire

• and his last would be to go to 6th grade
• lucas's dream vacation is to go to America and to

to go jet skiing and meet Bruno Mars

• A Dream that still sticks in lucas's mind
• is that his was still alive
• lucas’s most important holiday is Christmas

lucas celebrates christmas by giving presents

to charity.

• when lucas grows up he wants to be a NBA to

achieve that he takes basketball lessons and

by Anastasia Z

Massimo

If massimo had 3 wishes he would  wish that he would be rich, that everything he touched would turn into gold, and that he had a pet labrador. Massimo’s dream vacation would be going to his own private island surrounded by water and he would live in a mansion on that tropical island with his pet labrador. When he saw his sister do something funny. The most important holiday for massimo is Christmas and he celebrates it by unwrapping presents that santa gave to him.

Massimo doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up. In Massimo’s family he has a little sister, a mom and a dad.

By Maya

Joseph

  The person I am going to be introducing is Joseph. In his family there is his mother, his father, his sister and his brother. His favorite place that he visited was Germany because of the delicious food and enormous pools. His dream vacation would be going to Colorado for Christmas because he usually spends Christmas in Florida and wants to try something new. If he had three wishes he would wish for $10 million, a pug and a mansion. His hobby is swimming. He has never been to summer camp and doesn’t want to because he says that it is just spending your summer in a strange place instead of spending time with your family.        by Anastasia B.

Interviews

We began our narrative writing by talking about what would be some interesting things to ask our classmates.  We talked about what makes a good interview question (hint:  something that would give much more information than a one-word answer!)  Here is what the class came up with:

Next, we interviewed a classmate...

And finally we wrote our interviews in paragraph form.  It was a good way to meet a classmate,