1st Grade Balanced Literacy/Writing: Using Personification to Add Detail to Writing

Lesson Plan Created by Carin Jordan

Summary: Using the book I Stink! By Kate & Jim McMullan, students will learn about writing from the point of view of various animals and objects. This lesson builds upon the natural inclination of young children to

explore their world through pretend games. Students will use their imagination to liven up and stretch the

language of their writing. Students will write riddles to share with other students about the object or animal of

their choice. An optional extension of this lesson allows technology integration publish writing on Voki.com. All

the characters used in this lesson are available as Voki.com avatars.

A. IDENTIFY/REFERENCE NATIONAL, STATE PERFORMANCE, LOCAL CURRICULUM

STANDARDS:

English Language Arts State and Local Standards:

ELACC1W5: With guidance and support from adults, focus on a topic, respond to questions and suggestions

from peers, and add details to strengthen writing as needed.

a. May include oral or written prewriting (graphic organizers).

ELACC1W6: With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish

writing, including collaboration with peers.

B. SPECIFY ESSENTIAL CONTENT/OBJECTIVES:

Enduring Understandings:

Using interesting details and figurative language adds interest and excitement to writing.

Knowledge:

Students will:

Learn how to use figurative language and add details to strengthen and add interest to writing.

Skills:

After completing this lesson students will be able to:

Write from the perspective of an animal or object and use figurative language and details to make their writing more interesting.

Essential Question:

How do good writers use figurative language and details to make their writing more interesting?

DIFFERENTIATION

Process - Tiered Graphic Organizers: Through the use of tiered graphic organizers, through which all

learners work with the same important understandings and skills, but proceed with different levels of challenge

and support.

Process - Student Choice: Students will have the opportunity to select the character, animal, or object of

their choice to complete the writing activity.

Flexible Grouping: Students will conference with other students of their own choosing to share the riddles.

C. COLLECT A VARIETY OF MATERIALS/RESOURCES FOR STUDENT USE:

I Stink! By Kate & Jim McMullan

Anchor chart paper and markers

Ear of corn or photo of an ear of corn.

Sample of Voki published work for shared writing. http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9499813&height=267&width=200

Classroom Computer and interactive whiteboard

Classroom subscription to http://www.Voki.com

Student 3/6/14 “cold write” work samples for pre-assessment

Attachments: o Student Choice boards – printed in color, 1 or 2 per table

o “Who Am I?” Differentiated Graphic Organizers

High: Open space, high level guidance

Medium: Full set of questions set up like model writing

Lower: Fewest Categories, more space to write

o Writing Rubric

o Student Observational Data Checklist

D. CONDUCT PRE-ASSESSMENT FOR STUDENTS TO DEMONSTRATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Pre-assessment based on review of student “cold write” work samples completed on 3/6/14 and completed

rubric to assess current level of student writing ability.

Based on this information it was determined that most students need to focus on adding interesting details to

their writing. Many of the students in Ms. Collins’ class are observing basic capitalization and punctuation

conventions. It was further determined that most students are within a close range of writing abilities in terms of

content and the need to add length and details to their writing.

This lesson, therefore, will be differentiated primarily through student choice as well as flexible grouping

during the sharing portion of the lesson. Some level of differentiation will also be provided to several students

in the class. One student will receive a more open ended graphic organizer, in order to allow the student to

explore his own writing with fewer limitations. Two other students will receive a more limited graphic

organizer designed to allow them to have more room to write.

This lesson is intended to energize student writing through the use exciting imagery generated through student

imagination. The lesson is also designed to engage student interest through interactive sharing activities at the

end of the lesson and provide an optional technology extension to generate student interest.

D. (continued) ACTIVATE STUDENT PRIOR KNOWLEDGE:

On the day of the lesson the teacher will invite students to the classroom carpet. Teacher will begin with a

conversation similar to the following:

When I was a little girl I loved to pretend. Every day I woke up and would pretend to be a different

animal. Sometimes I was a snake, sometimes I was a monkey, and sometimes I was even a dinosaur! You

can even pretend to be a thing, like a tall tree, a floating cloud, or even a teacup. Have any of you seen a

movie with characters like a tea cup, a clock, and a candlestick? [Allow students to suggest “Beauty and

the Beast” or prompt as needed.]

Today we are going to read a book where the author pretends to be a garbage truck. Can you imagine

what it would be like to be a garbage truck? Let’s find out.

Teacher will read I Stink! by Kate and Jim McMullan.

E. PROVIDE FOR NEW KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION:

After reading the book, the teacher will work with students to create a piece of shared writing. The teacher will

introduce this part of the lesson with the following remarks:

Today we are going to do what Kate and Jim McMullan did in their book. We are going to pretend to be

something and we are going to write from that point of view. First let’s take a moment to turn to our

elbow partners and talk about what the words “point of view” mean.

After students discuss and teacher elicits and appropriate response from students, teacher will display an ear of

corn either as a photo or (ideally) by providing the actual object. Teacher will then state:

Today we are going to be one of these. What is this? (Wait for responses.) Yes, it is an ear of corn. Let’s

pretend that we are an ear of corn and fill in this chart together.

After teacher and students have created this shared writing piece together, teacher will show students how they

can publish their work using technology. Teacher will share the following link with students:

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=9499813&height=267&width=200

F. ADJUST ASSIGNMENTS FOR STUDENT APPLIED PRACTICE:

After completing the shared writing example, the students will return to their desks. Teacher will distribute the

“Who Am I?” graphic organizers as well as choice board cards for each table. Students will select an animal,

character, or object from the cards provided. Note: Students who have a strong preference for an alternate

character may be accommodated to ensure that adequate student interest is engaged.

Students will complete the graphic organizer while the teacher monitors student progress and provides support

as needed. Students who complete the exercise will be encouraged to re-read their own work and add details if

possible.

Early finishers may begin to create a published copy of their work which they will use as a reference for the

technology integration portion of the lesson.

When the teacher has deemed that all students have reached a sufficient stage of process, the teacher will allow

the students to work together in pairs or small groups to share their “Who am I?” writing riddles.

The lesson will conclude with students seated on the rug and selected students sharing their work with the class

as a whole.

Group Element of Differentiation

Colin

Colin enjoys writing and is usually the most motivated and independent writer

in the class. Therefore, Colin will receive a graphic organizer that has prompts

but is more open ended in order to allow Colin full opportunity to express his

creativity.

Acadia, Estaban, Eric, Jason,

Manuel, Nick, Shakira, Sophie,

Santana, Theo

The majority of the class will use the same format used during the modeled

writing process. Students will be encouraged to use as much detail as possible.

Jerome, Zoe

Students will write using the shortened format graphic organizer to provide

adequate room for the larger lettering. Using individual student teacher

conferences, teacher will transcribe the student’s own writing in to a model

paragraph which students will then use a model for the rewrite.

Note: The following students receive their writing instruction during their ESOL time according to the following schedule:

8:35 – 9:25: Katrina, Catherine, Rachel, Violet

The following students participate in the school Talented and Gifted program on Mondays:

Roland, Toby, Natalia, Wendell.

As an optional technology extension of the lesson, students will visit the school computer lab to create an avatar

on the Voki.com website. Writing choices were created using existing Voki characters and objects and students

will learn the process of creating their own Voki. Students will practice their typing skills by entering their

writing about their specific character or object. These Voki characters may be either saved to the teacher

website, or the permanent weblinks collected and sent home via the parent email distribution list.

G. CONDUCT POST-ASSESSMENT FOR STUDENTS TO INDEPENDENTLY DEMONSTRATE

KNOWLEDGE AND COMPETENCIES:

The attached rubric along with student observational records will allow the teacher to analyze individual student

writing and identify targeted areas for future growth. The rubric will allow teacher to analyze specific areas on

an item-by-item basis to evaluate the needs of the class as a whole.

The teacher will adjust future lessons based on student competency demonstrated in post-assessment.

Name: ______________________

Table 1

Choice

Board fish

horse

snowman

motorcycle

Table 2

Choice

Board robot

dog

mouse

jack-o-lantern

Table 3

Choice

Board unicorn

gingerbread cookie

flower

snail

Table 4

Choice

Board airplane

monster

cat

shark

Name: ______________________

Who am I?

Consider the following:

What do I look like?

Where do I live?

What do I do each day?

What do I “eat”?

What will happen to me in the future?

Anything else to say about me?

Who am I? I am a

___________________.

That’s who!

Name: ______________________ Who am I?

What do I look

like?

Where do I

live?

What do I do

each day?

What do I

“eat”?

What will

happen to me in

the future?

Anything else

to say about

me?

Who am I? I am a

___________________.

That’s who!

Writing Rubric: _________________ Name: ________________________ Score: __/___

Exceeds (3pts)

Meets (2 pts)

Needs More Work

(0-1pt.)

Reading My Own Work

Did I go back and read

my own writing?

I read my writing TWO

or MORE times.

I read my own writing

ONE time,

I DID NOT read my

own writing.

Effort:

Did I do my best work

and complete all parts

of the work?

I did my BEST WORK

on all parts.

I was ON TASK and

finished all parts.

I was OFF TASK

during my writing.

Ideas:

Did I make it

interesting with many

details?

My writing is FULL of

interesting details.

My writing has SOME

interesting details.

My writing is has

FEW or NO

interesting details.

Word Choice:

Did use exciting words?

My writing has LOTS

of exciting words!

My writing has SOME

exciting words!

My writing has FEW

or NO exciting

words.

Capital, Lowercase

Letters

and Punctuation:

Did I start sentences

with a capital letter,

Did I end sentences

with a . ! or ?

I used capital letters

for ALL sentence

beginnings. I used

lower case letters

EVERYWHERE else. I

have punctuation at

the end of EVERY

sentence.

I used capital letters for

SOME sentence

beginnings. I used lower

case letters most of the

time in the rest of my

writing. I have

punctuation at the end

of SOME sentences.

I still get very

MIXED UP when

using capital and

lower case letters as

well as punctuation.

Handwriting, Spacing,

and Neatness:

Did I form my letters

carefully? Did I use

good spacing? Can

other people read your

writing?

I wrote carefully using

my BEST writing and

good spacing. Other

people can read ALL of

my writing clearly.

I wrote carefully using

GOOD writing and good

spacing. Other people

can read MOST of my

writing clearly.

My letters are a bit

HARD TO READ and

TOO CLOSE

together. Other

people have trouble

reading my writing.

Student Observational Data Log Dates: 3/6/14 Cold Write, 3/10/14 Lesson

Acadia

3/6/14 Cold Write = 8/15. Student did not use the lines to write using best handwriting which makes it difficult to read. Student needs to work on expanding work and adding details and interesting words.

3/10/14 = 10/15. Student put forth a nice effort. Student struggles with thinking about effective words but attempted to use some. Student may benefit from modeled reading of mentor texts and increased vocabulary.

Colin

3/6/14 Cold Write = 13/15. Student is typically the strongest writer in the class. This is not his longest effort but the student gave creative reasons for choosing his topic and followed writing conventions well.

3/10/14 = 13/15. Student opted to NOT use the more open ended graphic organizer. Student was very creative in writing. Some of the creativity may have distracted audience from being able to actually guess the character. Student could improve future writing by considering audience. But, a gifted writer. Recommended to collaborating teacher that student be urged to participate in Georgia Young Georgia Authors writing competition in the future.

Estaban

3/6/14 Cold Write = 10/15. Easy to read. Student used interesting beginning and provided details. Student could improve work during the editing and revision process.

3/10/14 Cold Write = 9/15. Easy to read. Limited initial effort but student responded very well to prompts to add detail.

Eric 3/6/14 Cold Write = 9/15. Easy to read. Student needs to work on adding details and word choice.

3/10/14 Cold Write = 6/15. Student was not on his game for this exercise. Limited effort shown in writing even after prompts.

Jason

3/6/14 Cold Write = 12/15. Clear and easy to read. Student needs to work on sentence length, beginning and endings as well as word choice, and details.

3/10/14 = 12/15. Student responded well to prompts adding to writing.

Jerome

3/6/14 Cold Write = 6/15. Very difficult to read due to reversals, capitalization, spelling, punctuation. Also, word choice seems limited.

3/10/14 = 6/15. Student appeared to be working diligently about a motorcycle, conferencing revealed that student could not (or would not) read back writing during conferencing. Handwriting was fairly unreadable but teacher was able to decipher “ugle, fat, stoopit” and questioned student on character choice. Student opted to change from mortorcyle to dog which yielded a much better and more sincere effort. Through teacher conferencing student was able to add an interesting detail “I lice win i get bacin”

Katrina ESOL

Catherine ESOL

Manuel

3/6/14 Cold Write = 8/15. Student worked hard and put down a significant amount of content. Student’s work is difficult to read due to conventions.

3/10/14 = 7/15. Student needed a significant amount of conferencing. Student struggles with details because student seems to still be developing handwriting and basic conventions.

Natalia

3/6/14 Cold Write = 11/15. Easy to read, enthusiastic writer. Student can continue to add interest and details to writing. Student may also be encouraged to read own writing to learn to “listen” to it.

3/10/14 = 13/15. Student responded very well to prompts to add detail. Favorite parts: “My purr sounds like a frog croaking.” And “I eat at least 1 mouse for a special dessert.”

Nick

3/6/14 Cold Write = 8/15. Somewhat difficult to read due to punctuation and capitalization issues. Student needs to work on expanding work, adding details and word choice.

3/10/14 = 7/15. Student is often inconsistent on work effort. For this task he was not making best effort. Many one word answers, lengthed to two or three word answers only with prompting. Student needs to work to write complete sentences and care about making a product that is interesting for the reader.

Rachel ESOL

Roland

3/6/14 Cold Write = 8/15. Reluctant writer. Student needs to work on expanding work, adding details and word choice.

3/10/14 = 9/15. Student did not complete as much content as other students, but this is standard for student. Student is a very bright and creative student who may need continued scaffolding to get ideas on paper. Would he enjoy typing?

Shakira

3/6/14 Cold Write = 8/15. Easy to read. Student needs to work on adding details and word choice.

3/10/14 = 13/15. Student clearly enjoyed this activity and made a good initial effort. Student responded to prompts and added a significant amount of detail. In the future student will work on sentences and transitions and making sure that the entire piece flows smoothly when read.

Sophie

3/6/14 Cold Write = 8/15. Easy to read. Very short. Student needs to focus on own work and avoid distractions. Student needs to work on adding length and details.

3/10/14 = 10/15. Student struggles with avoiding distraction to get content on paper. Writing is a laborious process for her. Student completed all parts of the graphic organizer. Student made attempts at adding detail with prompts from teacher.

Santana 3/6/14 Cold Write = 9/15. Easy to read. Student needs to work on adding details and word choice.

3/10/14 Cold Write = 9/15. Student provided more detail with prompting. Struggles to stay focused during class.

Theo

3/6/14 Cold Write = 11/15. Easy to read. Student clearly put forth effort and provided a significant amount of content. Student would ideally go back and add adding details and word choice as well as checking beginning and ending. Great first draft.

3/10/14 = 13/15. Great job at adding details and using interesting words!

Toby

3/6/14 Cold Write = 8/15. Reluctant writer. Student needs to work on expanding work, adding details and word choice.

3/10/14 = 7/15. Student did not put forth best effort. Student did not write complete sentences, giving single word answers. Attempts to elicit further detailed writing through the use of questioning obtained more detail; however, student is inconsistent in effort based on mood.

Violet ESOL

Wendell

3/6/14 Cold Write = 10/15. Easy to read. Student can continue to stretch writing.

3/10/14 = 11/15. Student made a nice effort to add details to writing, especially at the beginning of the page. Student may have gotten concerned about time because length of response decreased on the paper.

Zoe

3/6/14 Cold Write = 9/15. Very difficult to read due to conventions, handwriting, and letter reversals. Student wrote a great deal on a topic of high interest and provided interesting information.

3/10/14 = 10/15. Much more legible. Student takes pride in work despite handwriting issues. Not much change in details from previous work. Still an area of need; however, this area of development might be hampered by student’s need to work hard on forming letters correctly.