Literacy Matters - Winter 2020

(e.g., I live ___, I eat ___, My skin is ___, etc.). For students who can benefit from enrichment, the teacher could have more specific requirements or more information that they could ask the student to include. The teacher could also ask the student to include elements such as similes or metaphors to the poem as well or require a certain number or type of adjectives within the poem. Through this writing, students should learn how to make scientific observations about an animal; use their observations to describe this animal effectively and in a scientific way (for example, to describe a rabbit the student could use “furry” or “hairy” rather than “cute”); and read classmates’ poems critically to determine what animal is being described and how that links to their own animal poem in the food chain. Water Cycle In this lesson idea, students personify a raindrop and write about this raindrop’s journey through the stages of the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, and precipitation). Students must include each stage of the water cycle in their story, but can include character traits, the setting of their choice, and events that happened for the raindrop at each stage in the water cycle. Students may draw the raindrop at each stage and draw the things they are seeing or the places they are going. A raindrop personification activity is a popular choice for many teachers teaching students about the water cycle. A quick Google search of “raindrop water cycle activity” produces over 900,000 results. To make this their own, a teacher may make several adjustments or tweaks, or may wish to pick their favorite strategies and compile several ideas found. If there are other skills that the students are currently working on in English language arts, the teacher may choose to require students to incorporate those (e.g. using sequencing words, using quotations, metaphors or similes, etc.). For students who may need extra support, the teacher may provide a visual model (see Figure 1) of the water cycle for students to refer to during their writing, or a paper with headings of each stage or boxes for each stage to assist students in organizing their writing. For students who finish quickly or may benefit from enrichment, the teacher may add in additional requirements There are several mentor texts that could be utilized during this activity to model writing for students prior to asking them to write themselves: A Raindrop’s Journey (Slade, 2011) ; A Raindrop’s Journey (Graber, 1994); Ethan the Raindrop (Guidera, 2015); and The Little Raindrop (Gray, 2014). Through this activity, students should not only learn the different stages of the water for their writing as listed above (e.g. using sequencing words, using quotations, metaphors or similes, etc.

Solar System While learning about the solar system, students may choose a planet or are assigned a planet by the teacher. Students research this planet and take notes on the planet’s characteristics and traits, such as whether the planet is an inner or outer planet, the planet’s distance from the sun and location within the solar system, and any unique traits the planet may possess. Students then create the planet with the media of their choice. For example, students may create their planet using construction paper, paint, crayons, markers, or a graphic on the computer (see Figure 2). Students will then create multimodal videos, filming their planet and using their voice to share their informational writing. The teacher can accommodate students who need extra support by providing fill-in-the-blank scripts, word banks, templates to take notes, or text-to-speech support on the computer when researching their chosen planet to make researching and note-taking an easier process. The teacher could also allow students to work in groups with other students who chose the same planet. Through this writing, students will learn characteristics and properties of their chosen planet, such as whether the planet is an inner or outer planet, characteristics of inner “rocky” planets and outer “gassy” planets, their planet’s location in the solar system in the order from the sun, and interesting facts or information about their planet that makes it unique (for example, Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system). They will also learn through their classmates’ writing and videos about the other planets in the solar system.

Reading Matters Writing Matters

TYPE OF STANDARDS ADDRESSED SC Academic Standards and Performance Indicators for Science

STANDARD

• 4.E.3A.1: Develop and use models of Earth’s solar system to exemplify the location and order of the planets as they orbit the Sun and the main composition (rock or gas) of the planets • 5-ESS1-2: The orbits of Earth around the sun and of the moon around Earth, together with the rotation of Earth about an axis between its North and South poles, cause observable patterns. These include day and night; daily changes in the length and direction of shadows; and different positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times of the day, month, and year • W.1.2.1/W.2.2.1: Explore print and multimedia sources to write informative/explanatory texts that name/ introduce a topic, use facts/definitions, and provide a sense of closure/concluding statement or section

Next Generation Science Standards

SC College and Career- Ready Standards for English Language Arts

TYPE OF STANDARDS ADDRESSED STANDARD SC Academic Standards and Performance Indicators for Science

cycle but have a concrete example of what their own raindrop did during that stage of the water cycle to help them develop a deeper understanding that particular stage.

• 4.E.2A.2: Develop and use models to explain how water changes as it moves between the atmospheres and Earth’s surface during each phase of the water cycles (including evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and runoff) • W.1.3.1/W.2.3.1: Explore multiple texts to write narratives that recount sequenced events/a well-elaborated event, include details (for actions, thoughts, and feelings), use temporal words to signal event order, and provide a sense of closure

SC College and Career-Ready Standards for English Language Arts

Literacy Matters | Volume 20 • Winter 2020 | scira.org | 31

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