Hadley Jennings

Writing Lesson
Day 1

Objective(s):
Second grade students will be able to write 3 silly animal sentences in order to get ideas for
writing.
Second grade students will be able to determine parts of writing that are capitalized.

Common Core: (W.2.5) With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and
strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.

Materials Needed:
Dogs Dont Wear Sneaker
Chart paper
Markers
Lined Notebook Paper

Content Specific Vocabulary to Review:
List
Ideas
Short stories
Revise
Edit
Punctuation
Capitalization

Introduction:
Today we are going to explore more ways that writers can gather ideas for writing. We have
made lists and came up with ideas for writing that way, but this week we are going to do something a
little different. We are going to read the book Dogs Dont Wear Sneakers and then talk about some
things we can learn from the book.

Lesson:
AFTER READING:
What is something funny about this story?
READ THE INSIDE BACK COVER BY LAURA NUMEROFF
How did Laura Numeroff get the idea for this story? THINK PAIR SHARE Laura Numeroff started off with
a single sentence and kept writing from there. You can write interesting sentences to gather ideas for
writing and we are going to practice that today.
REREAD PAGE 24
As I read I want you to close your eyes and think of things that animals dont do. What did you imagine
that animals dont do? (THINK PAIR SHARE Take 4-5 Responses) I am going to make a list of silly animal
sentences for our class. This will be like what you will do today when you write. When you are released
for writing time, you are going to write 3-5 silly animal sentences and then choose one of those
sentences to write about tomorrow.

Before we start writing out sentences we are going to start making a capitalization chart to help us
remember what gets capitalized in our writing. When we are writing when is it a good time to capitalize
a word? (Beginning of a sentence, etc) We will be going through a new letter or letters each day to help
us start to remember what gets capitalized and what does not. We are going to call this chart MINTS.
Today we will fill out the M. The M represents Months. Whenever you are writing any month you write
will be capitalized. Where somewhere you notice the months are capitalized in this classroom? Make
sure when you are writing to capitalize your months and use those places in the classroom to help you
with how to spell the months of the year. Now I am going to hand out some blank paper while you are
making your way back to your seats and you can get started writing silly animal sentences.

Reflection/Sharing:
Can I have everyone come back to the carpet? I am going to ask you to share your sentences with your
partner. What was a sentence your partner wrote that you liked? Tomorrow you are going to pick your
favorite Animal sentence and start writing a story from that. Remember to write 3-5 silly animal
sentences today.

Assessment: Clipboard cruise around the room and look for students who are struggling to write Silly
Animal Sentences. Assist students and take notes of students who will need assistance. This will be an
Informal Assessment of students who need more help. These students could be pulled into a small
group and given a mini lesson on how to write Silly Animal Sentences the next day.

Possible Silly Animal Sentences:
Kangaroos dont jump on trampolines.
Bats dont play baseball.
Cats dont mow lawns.
Penguins dont paint their toenails.


Hadley Jennings
Writing Lesson
Day 2

Objective:
Second grade students will be able to write a story using silly animal sentences.
Second grade students will be able to determine parts of writing that are capitalized.

Common Core: (W.2.5) With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and
strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.

Materials Needed:
CLICK, CLACK, MOO: Cows that Type
Silly Animal Sentences List
Capitalizations MINTS Chart Paper
Markers
ELMO
Lined Paper

Introduction:
Today we are going to hear another story about animals doing something that they usually
dont do. When I am reading today I want you to think about what you find funny in the story. Whiel we
are reading I am going to stop at different times to explain words that you might not understand so that
you can understand the story. If you dont understand a word or words in a story what are some things
that you could do to figure out what that word means? (Dictionary, ask a friend, ask a teacher)

Typerwriter-A typewriter is a machine used for typing before computers. (pg.8) Went on Strike-What do
you think it means to go on strike? To go one strike is to refuse to work. (pg. 8) Impatient-Impatient is
when you are mad at being kept waiting. (pg. 14) Furious-furious means to be very angry. (pg. 17)
Neutral party- a neutral party is a person who is not is not on either side (pg. 20) Ultimatum-is a
demand. (pg. 20)

Lesson:
What is something you found funny in this story? (Make list on bottom of silly animal sentences)
We are going to make a list under our silly animal sentences and we are going to write Farmer Brown
has a problem. This is what starts those funny parts in the story. From this one sentence many things
happen that are funny to the reader. So what is one problem that Farmer Brown has in this story? Some
others? (Form a list possible answers would be: His pigs like to play guitars, his chickens like to drink tea
all day, his horses want to join the circus, and his sheep like to wear long underwear) One sentence can
start a whole entire story just like this sentence started this story.

As we look at our list of silly animal sentences, I am going to pick a sentence and start writing about it. I
chose the sentence cats dont mow lawns. If I am going to start my story with Cats dont mow lawns
what should I write next? What sentences might make sense after this one?

USE STUDENT SUGGESTIONS TO WRITE STORY, MODEL CAPITALIZING PROPER NOUNS, and MODEL
APPROXIMATE SPELLING OF WORDS

Story Example:
Cats dont mow lawns. But one day, Delbert the cat decided to give it a try. He saw the lawn mower
sitting out on the lawn. No one was around, so he scampered over to it. Delbert stood on his hind legs
and stretched. But no matter how hard he tried, he oculdnt reach the handles. After a while he got
bored. I think Ill go chase a mouse, he decided. Thats much more fun?

Now that we have worked to write a story together, you are going to pick one of your own silly
sentences and begin to write a story about that silly sentence. Before we begin writing we are going to
work on our capitalization chart. When we are writing there are two more things that we must capitalize
while we are writing. ADD TO CHART: The letter I-If I go to the store ,I buy icecream and Names-People,
States, and Countries Carrie, who is from Kansas, would love to go to Italy. When you are writing make
sure to capitalize any names or people and the letter I today. So now we have MIN- We must capitalize
months, the letter I, and Names. We will fill in the rest of this list later this unit. Right now you are going
to go back to your seats and begin working on you Silly Animal Sentences Stories on the paper that I am
going to pass out.

Differentiation:
Students who struggled to write silly animal sentences may use a silly animal sentence from the class
chart to start their story. Those students could also be pulled and given a mini lesson on how to write
Silly Animal Sentences and given the opportunity to work on their story during literacy time the next
day.

Assessment: I would want to collect the silly animal stories and check for correct punctuation and
capitalization. This would help me decide where to go with revising and editing our stories as well as
give me kids who would benefit from small group instruction on capitalization and punctuation. This
story will be graded based on the rubric at the end of the unit.

Hadley Jennings
Writing Unit
Day 3

Objective(s):
Second grade students will be able to write 3 My Little Sister/Brother sentences in order to get
ideas for writing.
Second grade students will be able to determine parts of writing that are capitalized.

Common Core: (W.2.5) With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and
strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.

Materials Needed:
My Little Sister Ate One Hare
Chart Paper
Markers

Introduction:
We are going to read another silly story today. The book is called My Little Sister Ate One Hare.
What is a hare? A hare is just another word for rabbit. This story will begin with a silly sentence and will
just keep getting sillier and sillier. We are also going to work on filling in another letter in our
capitalization chart.

Lesson:
What is something funny in this story? This book started with the sentence, My little sister ate one
hare. I want you to Think, Pair, Share what silly sentences you can make up that begin with My little
sister. or My little brother.. I am going to have a few groups share and I am going to make a list of
some possible sentences on this chart.

Example:
My Little Sister/Brother Sentences:
My little sister plays in the mud.
My little brother turns green at night.
My little sister is really a frog.
My little brother eats bugs.

Today you are going to make a list of 3-5 silly my little sister/brother sentences. You are going to write
them on the back of your silly animal sentences list. At the top title it My Little Sister/Brother Sentences.
While you are writing I am going to confer with students on how to revise their writing. I looked at your
silly animal stories and I want to see if we can revise them. Why might a writer revise his/her writing?
We have a chart I am going to read through on why and how writers revise their writing. I want you to
go through these checklists when you write to become better writers. If the best writers in the world
have to revise their stories and think it is important we should too.

Since we are talking about punctuation and capitalization, we have another item to add to our
capitalizations list. We have so far MIN and today we will add the T. The T stands for Titles- I love the
movie Up. Capitalization is important because it shows the reader the important parts of the story like
characters, places, and things that are important. That does not mean that we can capitalize whatever
we want, but it does let you know why we must capitalize these 4 things while we are writing.
Tomorrow we will add in the last one for the letter S.

Differentiation:
For students who might not have little brothers or little sisters, I might pair them up with someone who
does so that they can have the opportunity to write these sentences and develop the skills we are
working on to help create writers who can make a story from just one sentence.

Assessment: Clipboard cruise around the room and look for students who are struggling to write
sentences. Assist students and take notes of students who will need assistance. This will be an Informal
Assessment of students who need more help. These students could be pulled into a small group and
given a mini lesson on how and why we write silly sentences and how they can help us as writers.


Hadley Jennings
Writing Unit
Day 4

Objective(s):
Second grade students will be able to write a short story using a My Little Sister/Brother
Sentence.
Second grade students will be able to determine parts of writing that are capitalized.

Common Core: (W.2.5) With guidance and support from adults and peers, focus on a topic and
strengthen writing as needed by revising and editing.

Materials Needed:
My Little Sister/Brother Sentences Chart
Chart Paper
Markers

Introduction:
Yesterday we wrote silly sentences that began with My little sister or My little brother.
Today we are going to choose one of those sentences and begin to write a short story about it. We are
going to start out by writing a story together to help us to write these stories. I am going to select one of
the sentences from out chart to write about.

MODEL WRITING A STORY AND LEAVING SPACE BETWEEN THE LINES TO REVISE

Example Story: My little sister plays in the mud. She makes castles and mountains and tunnel. She
bakes mud cakes, mud cookies, and mud pies. She has lots of fun. The trouble starts when she is done.
My little sister has mud everywhere. Its in her ears, in her nose, and in her hair. When playtime is over,
she starts to scream. You see, my little sister loves mud, but she hates water!

What sentence can we write next in our story?

Finish the story based on suggestions and model capitalization of proper nouns and first letters of
sentences as well as model approximation of spellings. Model how a writer can choose to make a story
go one direction or another based on what sentence he/she decides to write next. Have students vote on
what direction the story should go based on student ideas.

We talked a little bit about capitalization when we were writing our story and now we are going to finish
out MINTS capitalization chart. The last letter is S and S stands for Start of Sentences-Capitalizing is easy
when you remember MINTS. Now we have talked about all of the times that we capitalize words in our
writing. This poster will be available to you to reference throughout the year and I want to see some
good capitalization in your writing.

Now that we have written a story together, you are going to write a my little sister/brother story. You
are going to choose one of your sentences you wrote from yesterday and begin to write a story.

Assessment: Walk around and make notes on those students who could use additional supports writing
a story and informally assess students writing based on who is on task and working on their writing.


Story Writing : Silly Animal Story

Teacher Name: Hadley Jennings


Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Silly Animal
Sentences
Student has a list of
3-5 Silly Animal
Sentences.
Students have a list
of 3-5 ideas.
Students have a list
of 0-3 Silly Animal
Sentences.
Students have 1-2
ideas and no Silly
Animal Sentences
written.
Theme
Story starts with Silly
Animal Sentence
and continues with
that topic throughout.
Story starts and
continues with a Silly
Animal idea but no
clear Silly Animal
Sentence.
Story starts with a
Silly Animal
Sentence but had no
clear direction.
Story does not have
any relation to a Silly
Animal Sentence or
idea.
Idea
Story has a clear
beginning, middle
and end.
Story has a clear
beginning and
middle but no clear
ending.
Story has a clear
beginning but no
clear middle or end.
Story has no clear
beginning middle or
end.
Capitalization
Story includes 0-1
capitalization errors.
Story includes 2-4
capitalization errors.
Story includes 4-6
capitalization errors.
Story includes no
capitalization.
Spelling and
Punctuation
Story includes 0-3
spelling and
punctuation errors.
Story includes 4-6
spelling and
punctuation errors.
Story includes 7-10
spelling and
punctuation errors.
Story includes 10+
spelling and
punctuation errors.