Writers act out their pieces to revise and clarify their steps

The Stanford Trees had SO much fun in Writer's Workshop this week as we grew as informational writers.

We have been using author Gail Gibbons to study several mentor texts for informational writing.  On Monday, we explored examples of How-To's to recognize features we might include in our own writing.

                                

Luis points out that How-To's often have a title

Joel and Daisy read 

 

Dominic, Alejandro, Doriahn, Valeria and Adriana find how-to features 

Later this week, we learned that Writers act out their how-to's to revise and clarify their steps. The Stanford Trees helped me revise my writing when I read my "How-To Carve a Pumpkin" piece to Ms. O'Rourke as she tried to follow my steps. Her actions really helped me see where my writing could be more clear for my reader!

William helped catch the pulp as Ms. O'Rourke scooped out the pulp and seeds

Writers helped me revise my words to clarify my meaning

Ms. O'Rourke works hard to carve a great face on our pumpkin!

After my mini-lesson, writers got to work reading their How-To's to their partners, as their partners acted out their instructions. Writers shared tremendous realizations about how much this process helped them revise and clarify their pieces.

Doriahn acts out Angelica's instructions on "How-To Take Care of a Baby"

William acts out Abraham's piece on "How to Swim"

Anthony acts out Valeria's instructions for "How to Write a Piece"

We also learned about "Helper Features"--features that we can include in our How-To to help our reader understand how-to do something. Features include numbered steps, a how-to title, a "warning," a list of items to get, and an illustration.

I took great pleasure conferring with writer Kamarah:
me: "What are you working on as a writer today? Kamarah:"As a writer, I'm working on Warnings for my How-To. I've just been thinking...Gail Gibbons is like the best writer of all time. She has helped me so much in how to be a better writer. Like today, I learned about helpers: I put in Warnings to tell my reader to get help from an adult when carving a pumpkin."