Newsletter Lesson

 
VITAL INFORMATION
 
Subject(s):
English Language Arts, Reading, Science, Writing
Topic or Unit of Study:
Animal Unit
Grade/Level:
1
Objective:
TLW work in a group to creat a collaborative paragraph of written work.

TLW contribute one or more sentences that summarize their learning about their assigned animal group.

TLW assist their group in editing their rough draft with an adult.
Summary:
A class newsletter will be created to summarize the information learned in the Animals unit. Each student will participate in the process by contributing information learned in the unit. Students will also be exposed to, and assist in, the editing process. The final draft will be typed by an adult.
 
IMPLEMENTATION
Learning Context:
Prior to this activity, students have spent 3 weeks learning about the attributes of the five classes of vertebrates. This activity is a summary activity.

Procedure:
Students will be randomly assigned to one of five "Reporter Groups". The groups are called: "Fish Facts", "Amphibian Alert", "Mammal Masters", "Reptile Rave", and "Bird Brainiacs".

Each day the teacher will meet with one group and act as the facilitator/secretary. Each student will think of a sentence that states something that they learned about their animal group. The teacher/secretary writes these sentences down verbatim.

When 5-6 sentences are written down, the teacher acts as a facilitator and guides the students to edit and polish their paragraph, focusing mostly on word choice and sentence fluency.

The teacher or adult helper will type each paragraph into the newsletter template designed in advance by the teacher.

Finally, the students will look at each other's paragraph rough drafts on the overhead projector. The teacher will explain how each paragraph was edited and what the editing marks mean. Once students have seen the rough drafts, they will receive a printed copy of the newletter to read and keep.

This newletter will also be passed out to parents at Open House at the end of the Animals Unit.

Sample Student Products:
Attachments:
 1. Newsletter 2002.doc
Collaboration:
Students will work collaboratively. Students will work in groups of 4.

Time Allotment:
6 class periods. 30 Min. per class.
Author's Comments & Reflections:
This is a fun lesson for exposing young writers to the steps of the writing process. It enables them to take part in more complex editing than they would normally be able to do if they were bogged down with writing all of the content.
 
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES
 
Instructional Materials:
A finished copy of the Newsletter is to be given to each student.
Resources:
  • The number of computers required is 1.
  • Technology resources:
    Word, Overhead Projector
    Transparancy copies


    •
 
STANDARDS & ASSESSMENT
 
Standards:
CA- California K-12 Academic Content Standards
• Subject : English Language Arts
• Grade : Grade One
• Area : Writing
• Standard 1.0: Writing Strategies
Students write clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that develop a central idea. Their writing shows they consider the audience and purpose. Students progress through the stages of the writing process (e.g., prewriting, drafting, revising, editing successive versions).
• Concept : Organization and Focus
Benchmark or Example 1.1: Select a focus when writing.
Assessment Plan:
Notes need to be made after each session as to which students participated and really seemed to grasp the concepts verses the students who sat back and let others do the work. Check at later points to see if those students understand the concepts of editing.
Rubrics:
Newsletter Rubric