Adrienne Gear has an absolutely fantastic way to teach writing!
I was lucky enough to be in a classroom where my CT used Adrienne Gear’s “Writing Power,” and I was able to practise explaining and using this method to teach this linked lesson!
Day One: Planning
Students began planning their persuasive writing through guided instruction. The first step was finding the best pet ever (in their opinion), they could discuss and share their ideas. 5 students had written on their best pet ever the year before, so they were given an extension by having to write on scorpions as the best ever, rather than a more casual pet.
Once the pet was chosen, students needed to find and brainstorm positive characteristics about their pets, there were examples, and they were able to brainstorm alongside. These characteristics were then used as the examples for the two body paragraphs that needed to be written.
Finally, students needed to write their introduction (in full sentences), have point form for their body paragraphs, and then write their conclusion (in full sentences). As a group we went over the expectations for what an introduction needs, opening sentence, thesis, and transition sentences.
By the end of this block, all students who were present had their planning completed.
Day Two: Writing and Editing
Students wrote their introduction paragraphs, two body paragraphs with supporting evidence and their conclusions in they writing books.
I went over expectations on Style, Meaning, Conventions and Form, which the students aimed for. I also went over the Writing Goals, for clarity and interest.
As students finished their writing, I asked them to try and add a few more interesting words, and then once they did that, they exchanged with one another, and edited their work, giving constructive feedback, ways that they could add to the writing (positive feedback is much more helpful than hurtful feedback).
The majority finished during this block.
Day Three: Typing and “Publishing”
Students who needed to finish their writing did so before typing, as the rest typed their writing. This class had pre-set expectations on what to have on their documents, they needed a border and they needed to have pictures, supporting their writing. Students finished this writing, and every student had a different pet that they chose – it was interesting to see this variation! When completed, they printed off their documents and handed them in!
Core Competency: Creative Thinking
Facet: Generating and incubating
Profile: I can get new ideas in areas in which I have an interest and build my skills to make them work.
First Peoples Principles of Learning: Learning is embedded in memory, history, and story.
Big Ideas:
- Using language in creative and playful ways helps us understand how language works (4&5)
Curricular Competency:
- Identify how differences in context, perspectives, and voice influence meaning in texts (4&5)
Content:
- Story/text:
- Forms, function, and genres of text (4&5)
