Blogging with Mrs. Hempel: Hefty Plates + Writing = FUN!

This week at Summer Explorers I knew we needed to work on writing, but I also wanted to make it exciting! So, all week we worked on these "I Can" statements:

I can write using pictures.

I can write using words.

I can spell simple words.

I can use punctuation.

I'll share some of our other projects in another post! So stay tuned. On Thursday, we wrapped up our writing by passing out Hefty ZooPals Paper Plates!

Each child chose a rain forest animal from the set of plates: butterfly, iguana, parrot, snake, tiger, frog, gorilla.

Then, as a class, we brainstormed questions that we could ask one another about our animals. Asking these questions aloud helped the students to form complete sentences to write down. Students were asked to first draw a picture of their animal in its habitat and then to write down 4 sentences describing their animal.

I chose to have them draw first because I've found that when given a chance to draw it allows the students to be more creative. Not many of my students "enjoy" writing as it is a struggle for them. So expressing their creativity through pictures helps to build their confidence! Then we can conquer the writing!

Here are a few of our finished pieces of work! During the school year I like to hang projects like this in the hallway! With Summer Explorers, most of these kiddos were so excited to have actually written 4 sentences on their own, they couldn't wait to take them home and share them with their families! I just love how they turned out!