Insects: Here, There and Everywhere

Standards Progression

Writing Standards

W1.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide closure.

W2.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.

W3.2 Write informative/ explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

Digital Publishing Standards

W1.4/2.4 With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools and resources to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.

W3.4 With guidance and support from adults, use digital tools and resources to produce and publish writing (using word processing skills) as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

Research Standards

W1.5/2.5 Participate in shared research and writing projects.

W3.5 Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic.

So in my previous blog Lost In Writing I talked about how I decided I had to revamp my writing instruction.  After many years of struggling with writing, I realized I had to make it purposeful for my kiddos and myself, so I reorganized my writing plans to integrate it with other units of study.  You can read more about that journey here.

Now, getting down to the nitty gritty!  One of my FAVORITE units of study is life cycles.  I love studying all about the new life each spring in my classroom. One of the highlights of the life cycles unit is getting to watch caterpillars turn into butterflies, ladybug larve develop into adult ladybugs and watching ants work together to build a city of their own.  The kiddos LOVE getting to experience these "wonders" first hand. This was the inspiration for my writing instruction on Insects.

My team and I do our life cycles unit each spring, so the kiddos have been writing a LOT already thoughout the year.  At this point, I often notice that they are getting a little bored with the regular hum-drum of writing so it's a perfect time to dive into some high interest research and some digital publishing.

My students are used to researching at this point, although a lot of it has been shared research that we do together as a class or in groups.  Now is the time for me to turn them loose and see what they can do all by themselves and they never cease to amaze me! Now when I say "all by themselves" I don't turn them loose individually quite yet. I partner them up but the research is entirely up to them at this point. I do not guide them through the process since it's late in the year and they've had lots of practice.  It's also a plus that it's easy to find child-friendly information on insects 😉

After introducing the whole concept of insects vs. spiders and life cycles through reading and science, my students work in partners to choose an insect to research.  I usually give them a list to choose from (after I've reviewed the digital resources that I have available at my school) so I know they will be able to find good, quality information to use for their writing.  My mini-lesson each day is on how to use the different resources for research.  This reinforces the fact that I want the research to be "theirs" so I simply teach them how to navigate the different resources each day. It usually takes us about a week to gather all of the facts, then I move onto the actual writing.

My writing focus for this unit is the organization and text features of non-fiction writing. While we practice using these in our writing, we are investigating how authors use them during our reading instruction.  My mini-lessons include...

-Anchor chart of text features that can be used in non-fiction writing (heading, labels, table of contents, glossary, etc.)

-Writing a good hook and topic sentence/introduction for an informational piece.

-Giving interesting facts about the topic 

-Ending with telling your reader how they can find out more about the topic

-Revising for clarity

-Adding digital images

Finally, to spice things up for the kiddos in my class, this is their first digital project! That's their favorite part!  I choose to have my students do their research and planning on paper, but all of their "actual" writing is done digitally. They turn their information into a digital slideshow using Google Slides and then present their partner project to the class.  They get so excited and feel so grown up as they click through the slides to share all that they've learned.

You can check out the Insects: Here, There and Everywhere along with more writing units at my TpT store by clicking the image below.