Persuasive Writing!

Last week we started working on persuasive writing! I started the unit by reading the book I Wanna Iguana... by Karen Kaufman Orloof and then we brainstormed things that my students really really wanted just like in the story. We discussed how they might go about asking their parents for this thing, or animal, or to go to that place.

We decided the persuasive letter to their parents needed to have:

• flattery (Everyone likes a compliment!)
• polite tone (using please, etc.)
• a thoughtful argument for why it's a good idea

I then had them write the letter to their parents inside a speech bubble, cut out the speech bubble, and paste it to a page with their faces. This activity is modeled after a blog post created by Amy Lemons. You can find her downloadable template for the speech bubble here.

I am so impressed with how their writing and art turned out! I've done this writing for a few years now as an introduction to persuasive writing, and these are the best yet. I think it helped that we had a mini art lesson on how to draw faces. We started by discussing the things that all faces have and how your drawing should have the same colors and shapes that your own face has. I also modeled each step by drawing a portrait of myself on the board. We stopped after each step before moving on to the next. I think it really helped them to put effort into their work because I have quite a few students this year who will rush through everything just to get to the next thing.

This is a close up of one of my student's work. She really wanted to go to a hamburger/pizza restaurant we have here in Kigali. She had a really original idea that was specific to Rwanda and this was something I appreciated. Others wrote about wanting a dog, a cat, a ginuea pig, a chameleon, an ipad. Some wrote about places they wanted to go to: Lego Land, a favorite sushi restaurant, and Disney World.

I think this activity was a really great way to start to our persuasive writing unit! Have you found any great ways to teach or introduce persuasive writing?

-- Jennifer

Peek at my week... January 12-16

Here's a link up about my upcoming week! Click the picture for a .pdf file that has clickable links.

Next week, we are continuing with multiplication. We're using my Minute Quiz Multiplication for fact fluency. In a few weeks, we'll celebrate learning our multiplication facts with an ice cream party. The kids are pretty excited! We're also using Multiplication Bracelets and Multiplication Fact Booklets to  increase fluency. They LOVE the bracelets. I'm very fortunate that my group of students are mostly above level this year in math so teaching multiplication has been a breeze. It's also my favorite thing to teach in third grade!

For reading we've been using my In can track my independent reading packet to be more accountable for our independent reading. This is an area I found needed improvement from the beginning of the year. Students have started journals and below is a page completed by one of my students. 

Here, they track their minutes read for homework, the name of the book they're reading, and activities they complete for the choice menu. These were completed in class last week. Next week, this will be done as homework.

We're also into our second week of our Explorers and Adventurers Unit. Last week we completed this anchor chart and discussed how we are all explorers. They came up with some great ideas for this anchor chart, even mentioning pirates and astronauts! I was really happy with their thinking.

Next week we will continue with explorers and complete a motivations foldable and start on a group project called Choose Your Adventure: Age of Exploration. The first activity is writing a letter requesting money and supplies from the King for a voyage around the world. From there, we choose captains and begin our journey with a "choose 5 items that will help you survive on the journey" activity. I think my class will really enjoy this project! I need to remember to take photos!

I hope everyone has a great week. Go link up and share your own visual plans for next week!

Invention Convention

For the last week of school before the break, my students held an Invention Convention for their parents and for other classes in the elementary school to see. They did an excellent job and I'm very proud of their creativity!

We used elements of Inventors: An Engineering Workshop, as well as a unit from IPC (International Primary Curriculum) called Inventions that Changed the World. Here are a few photos to showcase my students work: