Writing Procedural Texts – Spanish1st Grade, CRM 3, Weeks 18-21

(4 Weeks of Lessons)

Day 1: What is a Procedural Text or How-To Book?

Mini Lesson

Recommendations for Texts:

Mentor Texts:How a Book is Made by AlikiBuilding A House by Byron BartonMaisy Makes Gingerbread by Lucy CousinsFruit Salad by Helen DepreeMilk to Ice Cream by Inez Snyder (could use in the classroom to make ice cream, if appropriate).Any appropriate children’s recipes:Children's Recipes by Disney Family

Additional Resources:Nonfiction Writing: Procedures and Reports by Lucy CalkinsThe Conferring Handbook by Lucy CalkinsResources for Primary Writing by Lucy Calkins and Beth Neville

Unit Materials:Mentor texts, chart paper, markers, colored pencils, crayons, all previously made anchor charts, publishing paper, writing template paper

Teaching Notes:During this unit, students will create a procedural (how-to) text. Teacher should draw on familiar topics and classroom procedures for examples, and should use mentor texts to introduce and reinforce the unit. Encourage students to consider their audience when they are writing their procedural texts, for example new students or kindergarteners coming up to 1st grade.

NOTE: Adjust these mini-lessons and student writing times as appropriate for your students. Some lessons may take more than one day to complete. Two extra days are provided at the end of this unit to allow flexible timeframes for teaching this unit.

1. Tell students that today is an important day! They will now be teachers and writers at the same time. What does that mean? They will write to teach others how to do something.

2. How-to books teach someone how to do or make something. For example, how to plant a garden, how to make a card or how to play soccer. These are also called procedural texts. Authors organize the information in a special way so that the directions are easy to follow.

3. Tell students that before we start writing we need to see how other authors have written how-to books and other types of procedural texts.

4. Show the class the covers of a few how-to books. Choose one to read aloud and think aloud about the story elements you notice and enjoy.

5. After reading, have students think, turn, and talk about the steps the author gave to create the item or perform a task.

6. Have students work in pairs or small groups to think about places where they have seen how-to books or instructions. Ask students, “¿Cuáles son algunos lugares en los que has visto instrucciones? ¿Has observado alguna vez a tu familia seguir instrucciones con el fin de hacer algo?”

Gather the whole class together to allow students to share.

Chart: ¿Dónde hemos visto ejemplos de textos de procedimiento?

Day 2: Examining Texts, Generating Ideas

Partner Writing

Peer Sharing

¿Dónde hemos visto ejemplos de textos de procedimiento? El recetario de mi mamá Cuando mi tío estaba haciendo un

estante de libros Cuando compramos un juego nuevo y

vino con un libro de instrucciones

1. Review yesterdays’ chart, “Where we have seen how-to examples?”

2. Tell students we are going to read another how-to book that shows us how to do something else.

3. Read aloud another text. Make sure that today’s text differs from the previous day’s text (if you read about making food yesterday, read about making books today).

4. Allow students to see the several different types of procedural books available and have them refer back to the anchor chart “Where we have seen how-to examples?”

5. Tell students that they are the “experts” in the classroom and know how to do so many things correctly. Ask students, “¿Qué pasaría si tuviéramos un nuevo estudiante en la clase? ¿Qué tipo de cosas podrías mostrarle al nuevo estudiante a hacer?”

6. Have students work in pairs or groups to generate ideas for what they could teach the new student.

Gather the whole class together to allow students to share. Chart: Ideas para un libro de instrucciones para la sala de clase

Tell students that we will begin practicing writing how-to books during our next lesson.

Day 3: Selecting a Class Topic and Generating a Materials List

Mini Lesson

Partner Writing

Peer Sharing

Ideas para un libro de instrucciones para la sala de clase

Cómo elegir el libro justo Cómo llegar a “Starfall” en la computadora Cómo trabajar en el centro de escucha Cómo leer de tu mochila de libros

1. Tell students that today we are going to choose a topic to write about as a whole class.

2. Show the class generated chart from yesterday “Ideas for a classroom how-to book.”

3. Read the list out loud to the students and ask them to think about which topic they would like the class to write about.

4. Guide the students through selecting one topic to write about. Circle this topic on the anchor chart.

5. Explain to students that today we will look at an important part of a how-to text: the materials list.

6. Show students examples in the how-to texts where the author provides a list of materials.

7. Model on your chart paper how you create the “materials list” for a different how-to writing (for example, the items for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or for making S’mores.)

8. Have students work in pairs to generate the items for the materials list for the class how-to project.

9. Students should share with the class the items on their materials list. Create a class chart of the materials, using contributions from various student groups.

Ask students to turn and talk and share why a materials list is important.

Tell students that tomorrow they will begin writing and illustrating the parts of a how-to book.

Partner Writing

Peer Sharing

Mini Lesson

Day 4: Adding Text and Illustrations

1. Explain to students that today we will begin writing and illustrating our how-to text.

2. Show students the materials list you wrote on a chart yesterday.

3. Explain that adding pictures would make it easier to follow the steps to our writing.

4. Guide students through illustrating and writing a how-to text using four steps. Make sure your chart paper looks similar to the How To Paper that students will use to write their own texts.

5. Tell students, “Let’s think of the first thing our reader should do.” Ask students to give you ideas and sentences about what you could write. “What should our reader do next?” Using their suggestions, orally plan which parts you will include for each step of the process.

6. Model drawing a simple picture for the first step. Write a sentence next to the picture for the first step.

7. Ask students to think of the second thing the reader should do. Model drawing a simple picture. Ask students to share out loud what sentence they would write next to the picture. Select one student to write the sentence for you.

8. Continue with steps three and four if time allows, asking students to generate ideas, share them with the whole group, and practice writing them on the chart paper. The next lesson does allow time to complete this shared writing, if need you need more time.

Ask students to turn and talk about why it’s important that the steps are in order. Would it make sense? Have students share their ideas with the class.

Mini Lesson

Peer Sharing

Shared Writing

Writing Conventions: Verbs and Sentence FluencyTeacher should provide explicit instruction and modeling of the writing conventions during modeled and shared writing. In addition, teacher should keep anecdotal notes to guide further instruction in small group and individually.

Day 5: Adding Numbering

1. Finish modeling the writing and illustrating of the classroom how-to book for the students. Ask students to share out loud what they think you should write next. Have students write the step on the chart paper, or illustrate the steps, if possible.

2. Re-read the entire text with the whole group.

3. Have students turn to a partner to read the how-to text to each other.

4. Have students talk with their partners about what else they would add to the how-to text.

5. Ask students how they could add numbers to the how-to text to have it make more sense.

6. Have a student come up and number the class how-to text.

7. Allow time for students to write independently.

Have students talk to a partner about why the numbers in a how-to text are important to a reader. “Can you think of situations when those numbers might be helpful to a reader?” (Because the reader will have to move their eyes back and forth between the text and the project, the reader might lose his/her place in the text. The numbers may help the reader to keep track of what steps he/she has already completed. Etc.)

Mini Lesson

Peer Sharing

Partner Writing

Day 6: Checking for Clarity

1. Remind students that it is very important after writing to go back and check to see that everything makes sense.

2. Tell students that this is a how-to text you wrote over the weekend, and you would like them to help you make it better.

3. To do this, the students will work with partners to try to act out the instructions you have written and determine if they are clear.

4. Read the first step from the prepared procedural text on the big chart, and then have the class act out the step. Continue step by step until you find a step that is missing or not clear.

4. Give students the following sentence stems and have them turn and talk with a partner to share how they would make the text better. Yo agregaría________

Yo cambiaría ________

Choose students to share with the whole group. Have students share with the class what changes they think would make the instructions more clear.

Add these changes to your chart. Explicitly show students how you add a step (by cutting and taping) or make a change (by crossing out and rewriting in the margins). Have students re-read and act out the corrected text.

Mini Lesson*Teacher prep: Teacher should prepare a procedural writing with a missing step or with the steps in the incorrect order on a large chart or sentence strips or for a document camera. (Choose a topic you can act out and test; such as putting your backpack on, sharpening a pencil, etc.)

Peer Sharing

Partner Writing

Day 7: Adding Transitional Words and Editing

1. Remind students that yesterday we practiced making a how-to text more clear. Tell students, "Hoy vamos a aprender a hacer que un texto sea aún más claro y fácil de entender. Podemos utilizar palabras de transición."

2. Lead the class in a shared reading of How To Make Lemonade.

3. Point out the parts of a how-to text (materials list, numbering, illustrations, etc.)

4. Tell students, "El autor de este texto utiliza palabras especiales en cada paso para hacerlo más fácil de entender. Estas palabras son primero, después, luego y finalmente. Estas palabras se conocen como palabras de transición."

5. Reread the text and have students circle the transition words.

6. Create an anchor chart with the class identifying several transitional words such as: primero, segundo después, luego, por último, finalmente.

7. Ask students to turn and talk and answer the following question: “¿Cómo podemos agregar palabras de transición a nuestro texto de procedimiento de nuestra sala de clases?”

Choose students to share their ideas with the whole group. Have students come up and add the transition words to the classroom procedural text.

Ask students if there are any more changes that need to be made. Model checking for: periods, spacing, and proper spelling.

Mini Lesson

Peer Sharing

Partner Writing

Day 8: Choose a Personal How-To Topic

1. Tell students that before they start writing their own procedural or how-to text, they need to remember the steps to writing this type of text.

2. Create an anchor chart with the students showing the steps to writing a how- to text.

3. Read the chart with the students and tell them that today we will work on numbers one and two: brainstorming and selecting a topic.

4. Provide examples of good and ‘not so good’ procedural text ideas. Explain to students why some are good ideas, and why some wouldn’t work so well. Ejemplo: Cómo hacer un sándwich sería una buena idea porque ya he hecho sándwiches. Cómo pilotear un avión tal vez no sería una buena idea para un texto de procedimiento porque nunca he hecho eso.

5. Have students work in pairs or in groups to write down personal ideas for a how-to text.

Have students select one of their ideas for their how-to text. Have students share with the class what they will be writing about for the next couple of days.

Day 9: Create a Materials List

Cómo escribir textos de procedimiento:

1. Pensar en ideas (lluvia de ideas)2. Escoger un tema.3. Dibujar los pasos.4. Escribir los pasos.5. Revisar junto con un compañero para

verificar la claridad del texto. 6. Modificar al agregar palabras de transición.7. Releer y editar.8. ¡Publicar!

Mini Lesson

Peer Sharing

Partner Writing

Mini Lesson

1. Congratulate students on their hard work on brainstorming and selecting their topic. They have already done steps one and two from the anchor chart!

2. Tell them that today we are going to begin using their topic to create a materials list. Remind students that a materials list includes everything the reader will need to be able to follow the instructions.

3. Provide paper for students and allow them time to begin to draw and write down the items needed for their materials list.

4. Remind students to write out quantities if necessary (for example: two slices of bread to make a sandwich).

Have students share their materials list with a partner. Have the partner read the materials list and double check that everything needed for the how-to is listed.

Day 10: Illustrating Our Procedural List

Peer Sharing

Independent Writing

*To help struggling writers, you may illustrate the text first and then have students write a sentence to go along with their step-by-step illustrations. If you would like to begin with writing the text first and then illustrating, feel free to do lesson 11 first and then lesson 10.

1. Have students re-state their topic and re-read their material list.

2. Today students will begin working on step #3: Illustrating the four steps of their how-to text using the How To Paper.

3. Model using the how-to paper before students begin.

4. If you feel some students have a lot to say in their procedural steps, you may introduce the idea of writing the procedure across several pages of a small booklet. Using a booklet with blank pages, show students how the materials list would be on one page, and each step of the process would be on a separate page of the booklet.

5. Have students work in pairs or independently to illustrate the four steps of their procedural text.

Have students think, turn and talk about what else they would add to the how-to text.

Teacher should conference with students throughout this process. Possible conference questions include:

Day 11: Drafting Our Procedural Text

Mini Lesson

Peer Sharing

Independent Writing

“¿Cuál es el primer paso?” “¿Explicaste cómo usar todos los materiales?” “¿Cómo te puedo ayudar a comenzar a redactar

tu texto?” ¿Te puedo ayudar a alargar esa palabra para

ayudarte a oír todos los sonidos?”

*To help struggling writers, you may illustrate the text first and then have students write a sentence to go along with their step-by-step illustrations. If you would like to begin with writing the text first and then illustrating, feel free to do lesson 11 first and then lesson 10.

You may need to allow an extra day for students to complete Lessons 10 and 11.

1. Tell students that today we will begin step #4: Using words to give instructions. But before we begin, we should think about what we would like to write.

2. Have students work with a partner to verbally explain the steps in their how-to text. (Students who will write in a booklet should practice explaining the steps across pages in a multi-page booklet.)

3. Writers work independently to write the steps to their process.

4. Remind students to write the sounds they hear as they come to words they don’t know how to spell.

5. Also remind students to check the Word Wall and other charts in the room to see if they can find the word they are struggling to spell.

Have students work in pairs or independently to check for clarity. Have students read their text to each other, and have the listening student pretend to follow the steps being read.

Teacher should conference with students throughout this process. Possible conference questions include:

Day 12: Editing and Adding Transitional Words

Mini Lesson

Peer Sharing

Independent Writing

“¿Cuál es el primer paso?” “¿Explicaste cómo usar todos los materiales?” “¿Cómo te puedo ayudar a comenzar a redactar tu

texto?” ¿Te puedo ayudar a alargar esa palabra para

ayudarte a oír todos los sonidos?”

1. Congratulate students for making it to step #6! They are such dedicated writers!

2. Explain that today is a very important day because we will be editing and adding transitional words.

3. Have students share out loud what transitional words they remember from the lemonade story. Refer back to your transition words anchor chart.

4. Have students revise their how-to texts by adding transitional words and adding numbers before the text.

Teacher should conference with students throughout this process. Possible conference questions include:

Day 13: Model Checking for Clarity and Revising

Have students share out loud or work in pairs or groups to share what transitional words they used in the text.

Mini Lesson

Independent Writing

Peer Sharing

“¿Cuál es el primer/segundo paso?”

“¿Cómo puedes indicar al lector cuál es el segundo paso?”

“¿Qué palabras de transición puedes agregar aquí?”

*For this lesson, borrow a student’s writing (preferably one that contains some errors) from another teacher at your grade level. Photocopy the how-to writing and remove the student’s name.

1. Remind students about the text you wrote last week that didn’t make much sense. You were missing a step!

2. Tell students that tomorrow they will work with different partners to act out each other’s steps. By checking each other’s work, we are checking for clarity. When we find errors or places where we can make improvements, we will revise the writing.

3. Using a student’s writing from another class, show the student’s materials list and read the writing aloud. Have the students act out each of the steps.

4. Guide students to decide what changes need to be made to make the directions more clear. Remind students how you revised the class how-to writing. You added a step (by cutting and taping) and made a change (by crossing out and rewriting in the margins).

5. Explicitly show them again how to cut and tape to add a step, how you add words using a caret, or how you make a change by crossing out and rewriting in the margins.

6. For students who are writing in booklets, you will want to work with a small group to show them how they can rearrange the pages of their booklets to put the directions in a different order. Also show them that all other revising techniques are the same. The only difference is that the revisions are made on each page of the booklet. You might work with this small group during the Independent Writing of Lesson 14, while the other students act out the directions and revise.

Ask students to turn and talk to a partner. “Why do we act out the directions? How does this help us as writers?”

Have students share with the whole group to debrief today’s lesson.

Day 14: Writers Check for Clarity and Revise*Note: You may need more than one day for this lesson.

Mini Lesson

Peer Sharing

Shared Writing

1. Tell students that today they will work with different partners to act out each other’s steps. By checking each other’s work, they are checking for clarity.

2. They will revise their writing using the revising techniques you modeled for them yesterday. Make sure your revised draft from yesterday is on display so the students may refer to it.

3. Give students a guiding question such as: ¿Puedes seguir los pasos? ¿Te dice el escrito claramente qué hacer?

4. Have students work with partners to act out each other’s how-to text. The writer will read the text out loud while their partner acts out the instructions.

5. Move around the room while the students work, assisting as needed. Encourage writers to read the writing again to make sure it makes sense.

6. Allow enough time for both students to read and revise.

7. For students who are writing in booklets, work with a small group to show them how they can rearrange the pages of their booklets to put the directions in a different order. Also show them that all other revising techniques are the same. The only difference is that the revisions are made on each page of the booklet. You may decide to work with this small group while the others are acting out and revising.

Have students share out loud what happened when they tried to follow each other’s instructions. Ask students, “¿Qué cambios hiciste? ¿Qué agregaste a tu texto? ¿Cómo verificaste la claridad?”

Day 15: Correcting Spelling**Create a chart showing the beginning of a draft of a how-to writing with a few spelling errors.

Mini Lesson

Peer Sharing

Independent Writing

Mini Lesson

1. Tell students that today they will check to make sure that all Word Wall words are spelled correctly.

2. Review the words on the class Word Wall.

3. Using draft you created containing spelling errors, model for students how you notice that the word doesn’t look right. Circle the word. Go to the Word Wall to find the word, and change the spelling in the space above the word.

4. If the word is not on the Word Wall, ask whether the word can be found on other anchor charts in the room.

5. Model other strategies the students can use to try a new spelling (stretch out the sounds, ask a friend, use a part of another word that sounds the same, e.g., boy-toy, look-cook)

6. Students will read their drafts and look for Word Wall words. They will check the spellings of these words to make sure they are spelled correctly.

7. They will also look for words that don’t look right and use the strategies you modeled above to try to correct these spellings.

8. Move around the room, assisting as needed. You may want to work with a small group to help correct their spellings.

Ask students to share with the whole group two words whose spelling they corrected today.

Day 16-17: Publish Final Drafts

Mini Lesson

Independent Writing

Peer Sharing

1. Congratulate students on their hard work!

2. If students are not finished revising and checking the spelling of words, please take time to allow them to finish.

3. Tell students that we have reached the publishing step! We are now ready to show the world our writing!

4. Show writers the special paper or special pens/markers they may use to publish their final draft.

5. Model for students how you rewrite the beginning of your how-to writing, using your best handwriting and making all the revising and editing changes so the final published draft has no errors.

6. Allow students to publish their text by writing their procedural writing on special paper, or with special pens/markers.

7. If you would like, you can put students writing in sheet protectors to create a Class Procedural binder book.

8. Students who finish early may practice reading their text in preparation for tomorrow’s sharing with an audience.

Ask students to share with the class how things are going with their final drafts. Writers may tell how far they are in the process, ask questions, or explain how they solved any problems that arose while they were working today.

Day 18: Sharing Our Writing with an Audience

1. Congratulate students on their hard work!

Peer Sharing

Independent Writing

2. Today writers will present their work to the class, or, if you have made arrangements with another teacher, you may give your students the option to share their writing with another class.

3. Make sure that all students have the opportunity to share their work with an audience.

4. Afterwards, debrief the experience with your students. How did it feel to read and show your writing to an audience? What will you do differently (or the same) in your next piece of writing to make sure it is your best?

Day 19: Celebrating Our Hard Work *Teacher prep: To celebrate your authors, you may choose to read a how-to text in the classroom and have students follow along the steps to create something or achieve a task. Examples include having the students try to make origami, make a card, follow a simple recipe (making ice cream), complete a craft activity, or write the steps to blow bubble gum. Examples of crafts that may be done in the classroom:

How to Blow a Bubble with Bubble Gum

Origami Instructions for Kids

How to Make a Card Instructions Kids

Disney Ice Cream in a Bag Recipe