To say our first graders had fun with this lesson would be an UNDERSTATEMENT! What first grader doesn't love pretending? These kiddos couldn't wait to get to be a dinosaur! If you didn't get a chance to download the September lesson of the month, here it is for quick access. Just click on the book for the full lesson plan.
This part of the lesson was their absolute favorite. Focusing on the story critical character, students got to think about what kind of dinosaur they would like to be. Mrs. Evans charted the types as the students shared. Next, the students thought about where they would want to be, developing the critical setting. Finally, they chose what it was that they would eat in place of other students:) - story critical object.
Every time you model, be sure to include a vocabulary lesson for your students to use in their own writing. For this lesson, Mrs. Evans guided students to come up with other words to say "eat" that they could refer to when writing on their own.
After they were done with their brainstorming, the students filled in their writing summary using the story critical elements page from the EW guide.
Finally, they created their picture with all of the story critical elements and a final copy of their writing! They look so cute hanging in our hallway!
In first grade, we are REALLY working on those handwriting skills. These independent writing activities are the times when we have to hold them accountable for letter formation, size, and placement on the paper. I think these are pretty good for the first few weeks of school! If you are also using sentence a day, students should be learning to start their sentences with a capital letter and have end punctuation as well.
I hope you all enjoy this lesson and be sure to post a few samples to our FB group- Love to Write and Read All-Day!