Our primary writing goal this semester was to develop informative paragraphs with evidence and content vocabulary. Each essay needed a conclusion as well as a topic statement. Toward this end, students wrote four informative paragraphs, adding to the complexity of their paragraph structure as they learned and practiced new writing objectives. Students began with a review of nouns and verbs and then were encouraged in the use of adjectives to provide detail in their writing. Simple sentences were turned into compound sentences using conjunctions as students developed their writing craft.
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Later in the semester, each student put together a booklet about grizzly bears. Initially, students worked in small groups to generate questions that would stir curiosity about grizzly bears.
Why grizzly bears?
Why grizzly bears?
We wanted to learn about grizzly bears after reading Moccasin Trail. The main character, Jim, survives a grizzly attack. We have been studying early settlers.
Working in their groups, students had one of three themes to represent; general descriptions and facts about grizzlies, what they eat, or how they raise their cubs. Each student illustrated their book and each group fashioned a diorama to depict some aspect of the information in their booklets. Students presented individual and group work at EXPO for parents and grandparents.
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