Week 3 - Writing Lesson

And just like that, our program is almost finished! It's crazy to think that we only have a few more days left with our kiddos! As time goes on, I am learning so much from each student. We have been able to learn so much about their individual quirks and personalities and that has been so much fun! More importantly, we have been able to explore their individual strengths and needs. With trial and error, we have worked to meet these individual needs and develop effective strategies when working with particular students. This experience is invaluable and I am so thankful to be a part of it!

This week, I taught a lesson on opinion writing. We used the OREO model, as seen in the photo below, to structure our writing. A big focus of this lesson was not just the opinions themselves, but the supporting reasons and explanations behind those opinions.

In the lesson, we explored "The Perfect Pet" by Margie Palatini as a mentor text. In it, the main character is trying to persuade her parents to get her a pet. She goes through a long list of pets and provides reasons that each would be perfect for their family. When met with parental resistance, the main character improvises and there is a cute twist to the story. I won't spoil anything, but it's a great option if you are teaching opinion/persuasive writing!

After our read aloud and analysis of the story, we introduced the OREO model with an anchor chart and a mega-stuffed Oreo. Students were asked to analyze their Oreo cookie and observed that it had three very important components: two cookie sandwiches and icing filling. If one of those components was missing, it would not be as delicious of a snack. We related this to our own paragraph writing - if one component of our paragraph is missing, it is not as strong of a writing piece! Also, the icing is the sweetest part of the cookie. The more, the better! This connects to the details, reasons, and explanations in our own writing!

We went through each component of the model (Opinion, Reason, Explanation, Opinion) while pointing to the corresponding part of the cookie in our hands. Then, we were able to enjoy our sweet treat as we used the anchor chart to collaboratively complete the OREO model as if we were the main character from our story.

After this, students were given a graphic organizer identical to our anchor chart. (Image included below). This graphic organizer provided sentence stems for students to use as they wrote. On these, students were challenged to come up with their own opinion as to what animal would make the best pet, then provide three reasons and explanations.

Students who finished early could move onto their rough draft, taking everything from their graphic organizer and transferring it onto a piece of loose leaf paper. We also had a text set on different kinds of pets and how to care for them available for students to explore! It was definitely a fun lesson for all and we got a little treat out of it too!

What went well:

I think student engagement was the best part of this lesson. Students absolutely loved the interactive read aloud and were eager to analyze our main character's opinions, make connections, and share their own opinions as we read. The twist at the end had them making all sorts of faces and kept them at the edge of their seats! I had SO much fun with this.

The cookies themselves were a hit too, of course! I think providing a physical representation of the mnemonic device model made an abstract concept more concrete. It provided a visual reminder of why we write the way we do. It added a multi-sensory element to a lesson that could have easily been just an anchor chart and graphic organizer. The cookies boosted engagement and motivation - I may have promised a second cookie if we worked hard all throughout the lesson!

What did not go as planned:

As always, I was a bit pressed for time during this lesson. I always get so caught up in the activity that we're doing that I don't want to stop and move on to the next phase! In this particular lesson, our interactive read aloud and discussion took up more time than anticipated. This was not necessarily a bad thing, as our discussions were rich with connections and ideas. However, it meant that we had less time to work collaboratively on the anchor chart before we moved onto independent practice. Instead of providing three reasons on the anchor chart, we only did one. My original intention was to more gradually release responsibility to the students. In this case, it was a bit more abrupt. I think that with more modeling, the students would have been able to transfer to their own graphic organizers during independent practice. 

How to change for subsequent lessons:

In future lessons, I will try keep myself on a more strict schedule so that all components of the lesson get their fair share! That gradual release of responsibility is much too valuable!