With Book-A-Night, we have been focusing on nonfiction text. Our nonfiction focus has really enhanced our research and writing abilities. Since we have been reading strong nonfiction text, we took a close look at the components of good informational writing. A good informational paragraph is like a giant hamburger; lots of meat and lots of flavor. The students loved the analogy.
Next, we had some paragraph puzzles to put together. They were all paragraphs with lots of meat (details) and flavor (evidence, examples, and explanations). The students worked in groups to reassemble the strong paragraphs. Would you believe the manager at McDonald's had never had anyone ask for empty burger boxes to help students become better writers?
Soon we were ready to cook up our own informational paragraphs. We did lots of classroom research on penguins. Then, the students constructed paragraphs about the birds. They did such a great job or adding meat and flavor.
Here are just a few tidbits from some of the paragraphs. I can't wait to get them all typed up. We have some writers.
"Penguins live south of the equator. Some penguins live in Antartica. Penguins and polar bears do not live close to each other. They live on different sides of the equator."
"Some penguins keep the eggs on their feet. The mom and dad take turns keeping the egg safe."
"Here is a deep fact! The Emperor penguin can dive 1,500 feet down."
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