Lesson/Unit Title: The Squiggle



Lesson/Unit Title: The Squiggle

Grade/Course: 2nd Grade Writing Dates (of lesson/Unit): 10/21-10/23 (Solo)

Intern: Zander MacDonald Mentor: Mary Skiffington

Objectives:

What do I want my students to know how to do?

- Students will plan and write a clear and understandable story with a beginning, middle and end that logically connect.

Students will…

-Students will be able to plan and draft a creative story. In doing so, students will use both a list plan and an illustration to complete their story.

Focusing Question:  Why are we learning this?  Why is this important?

-New Hampshire Board of Education, Expressive Writing Standards

Connection/Rationale: How does this fit into what we have been learning? How does this fit into your life?

-This activity will challenge the students to plan a story that has a logical flow from beginning, middle to end as stated in New Hampshire’s Grade Level Expectations.

Procedures:

What will the students do?  What are the activities?

1. I will start by introducing and reading The Squiggle by Carole Lexa Schafer

2. Group discussion to follow in regardingthe creative things that the line could be turned into and reflect on the book by discussing the creative ideas that one could have with a string.

3. Students will then brainstorm and share their own ideas.

4. I will model the list plan that will be expected to be completed by the students.

- Will model/discuss appropriate illustrations as they relate to their story

-Plan will include note taking style rather than full sentences

- Clear and logical beginning middle and end

5. Every student will be provided with a sheet with a squiggled line and a separate page to be used as their list plan.

6. Students will come up with their own creative thought about their squiggle and illustrate their picture with colored pencils or crayons.

7. Once complete students will then write down notes for their story on their color coded list plan.

8. I will model a simple example of the list plan by writing for my creative story.

9. Using their individual list plans, students will write their own story. List Plan and Draft Paper will be color coded into three sections (BM&E)

10. Upon completion students will proof read their own work and add any further detail to their illustration where needed.

11. All works will be compiled into a collaborative book of short stories.

Materials:

-Copy of text

-Piece of paper with squiggle and a space to write for each student

-Color-coded list plan for each student

-Color-coded draft paper

-Additional papers for students who might have longer stories

-Enlarged sheets for modeling

-Colored Pencils and/or Crayons

Hook: 

Beginning the lesson with a picture book of relevant theme

Learning experiences: 

-This lesson will provide students with a specific topic to write about as well as require them to think of and utilize their plan.

Adaptations/ Accommodations: 

-Students will have the ability to adapt this lesson in a multitude of different ways. Their creativity with their Squiggle will allow every student to make this activity into something interesting for them. Further, there will be no length requirement or limit that will allow students to make this lesson fit their individual needs. Assessment will be based on the use of a beginning, middle and end.

Closure:

-The list plan is a strategy that the students will use throughout the year and beyond.

Assessment

-Each story should have a beginning, middle and end that logically connect.

What are the relevant state standards for this lesson?

-Expressive Writing

Post Lesson reflection:

-Students really enjoyed the chance to be creative and create a picture and story unique to them. It also provided students with a topic to write about, too often students in our class cannot think of a topic that would interest them enough to write about. This lesson provided students with the structure to arrive at their topic.

What did not work?

The creativity and enthusiasm generated by this lesson was truly enjoyable for the whole class. In some cases I think that the structure constricted some of the stories from becoming more detailed. With some students this was an intended outcome because I wanted students to stick to a story from start to finish, rather than getting off topic. In other cases it limited a student from building upon their basic story,

How would I change this lesson next time I teach it?

In the future, I would like to make these Squiggle stories a language station (in a K-2 class). I think it would be great to provide each student with a book full of different squiggles where over the course of the year they could personalize each squiggle into a different story,

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