Are you looking for a fun way to teach about procedural writing? I found an awesome book for this genre! Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin is the PERFECT story to teach about procedural, or how to, writing.
After reading the book, Dragons Love Tacos, I explained that we would be writing a procedural, or how to, text. The topic? How to make tacos…for a dragon! They were really excited to write about this topic after reading the book! I began the new unit of student by posting the learning target (I can write a procedural text) and reviewing the success criteria.
I like to have my students write the success criteria, and then use it as part of our bulletin board display with our published writing. I don’t have a picture of the student writing success criteria for this procedural text lesson, but you can check out how we did this for my “Do you want to own a unicorn?” opinion writing lesson:
I then like to how my students examples of high-quality writing samples. I differentiate this lesson by teaching how my students can elaborate the directions and really being specific with the ingredients.
My students then use graphic organizers to form their ideas and write their first draft. This usually does not take more than 30 minutes. After my students were finished with their first draft, I began teaching my writing mini-lessons. I taught one 10-12 minute lesson and then my students would apply what they learned to their first draft.
Some of the mini-lessons I taught for procedural writing are posted below.
First, I taught about how to use present tense verbs when writing a recipe. On the SMART board, I actually showed a few clips of the Today show’s cooking segment, where the guest is teaching how to cook a recipe. I also went to a few cooking for kids websites and showed some examples of recipes there. For this lesson, I wanted my students to focus on the tense of the verbs. After I taught this lesson, my students then went back to their first draft and revised their writing by changing the verb tense of their verbs.
I then taught a mini-lesson about the importance of writing clear, detailed, step-by-step directions. I showed a few examples of sentences that lacked real direction, such as “Put jalapeños on.” We practiced revising the sentences to include much more detail. For example, “Next, sprinkle a handful of shredded Cheddar cheese on top of the lettuce.” The students worked in groups to revise some of the sentences I gave them, before they went back to their own first draft to revise those directions.
I then taught about how good writers use transition words to help them sequence the steps in their writing. We reviewed appropriate transition words and sorted the steps so that they were in the correct order.
After doing this sequencing lesson as a whole class, my students went back to their seats, took out their first draft, and revised their writing to apply what I taught them.
I encouraged my students to have all their sentences start with a transition word. After a week of teaching mini-lessons on procedural texts, my students were ready to edit their writing, peer edit, and meet with me for a writing conference. During the writing conference, I give one star (a compliment) and one wish (a suggestion that would improve their writing).
My students are then ready to start on their final draft! Taking into account all of the revising and editing that was done, they write their final draft. My students write their final draft and publish their writing with an adorable dragon craft! This made a colorful and creative display of their writing!
If you would like to use this lesson in your own classroom, please read below.
Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin is the PERFECT story to teach about procedural, or how to, writing. This engaging resource includes writing samples with success criteria, graphic organizers, anchor chart printables, editing and writing checklists and rubrics to help you teach your students about procedural writing in a fun way. Students write their final draft and publish their writing with an adorable dragon craft, which makes a colorful and creative display of your students’ writing! This is an an authentic, engaging, and motivating way for students to learn and write about procedural text!
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Here’s What Is Included:
1. Writing Samples: I like to show my students an example of a high-quality writing sample that meets all the success criteria. There are two different writing samples. One is very basic and well suited for first and second grade. The other writing sample includes more details and is more appropriate for third and fourth graders.These slides are in black/white and color, so that they display nicely with your technology.
2.Success Criteria for Procedural Writing: A list of statements students can read to determine their success on this writing project.
3. Graphic Organizers for Procedural Writing These graphic organizers help students to organize their ideas, before they start to write their first draft. There are three different options to choose from.
4. Templates for First/Final Draft- There are different versions of lined pages for students to choose from as they write their final copy- primary and intermediate lines, horizontal and vertical pages.
5. Color Printables for Anchor Charts- Posters to print and display as you teach different mini-lessons on procedural writing.
6. Self/Peer Editing Checklist: With guidance from their peers, students develop and strengthen their writing as needed by editing, using this helpful checklist.
7. Writing Checklist: Students can self-assess their writing, to make sure they meet the success criteria.
8. Writing Conference Template and Rubric: As the students complete their writing, you can conference with them using this template. Provide one compliment and one wish (a suggestion) to improve their writing. You can fill out the rubric when students are finished with their final draft.
9 Student Dragon Templates for Bulletin Board: There are 4 pages of templates for the dragon. There is a black/white and color option. Students attach their final draft to the dragon.
10 Teacher Templates for Bulletin Board- “How to Make Tacos for a Dragon” is printed in a font that makes it very eye-catching when displayed on a bulletin board.
If you would like to purchase this lesson on Teachers Pay Teachers, please click here>>>Dragons Love Tacos
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