Teaching How To Writing can be difficult but it is an important skill for primary school students to learn. This form of writing allows them to explain steps to others in a way that makes sense and flows which ultimately leads to better communication skills. When it comes to teaching any style of writing, there are many different ways to approach it. One of my favorite ways to teach how to writing is by using a book and STEM activity to bring the skill to life. Today, I’m going to share a little “how-to” *wink* guide on how you can do this in your own classroom. I have a resource in my store that goes along with this post which makes it even easier to implement these steps in your classroom. Click HERE to check it out.
Teach how to writing by using a Mentor Text
There are many different books out there that can be used as a strong example of how-to writing. My book of choice for this particular post is How to Catch a Mermaid written by Adam Wallace and illustrated by Andy Elkerton. This book is one of twelve in a series that feature steps for catching different things.
How to Catch a Mermaid follows a little girl’s plan for catching a mermaid. In the book, she leads her friends in creating a trap to catch a mermaid. She shares many different traps and how the mermaid works her way out of each one.
As you read this book to your students, you can focus on the key words used to indicate how-to writing. Key words such as first, start, and plan are used to indicate that the kids will be working through a series of steps to catch the mermaid.
Next, invite your students to reflect on the book they just read.
After reading the book, it’s time to invite your students to reflect on the book they just read. You can do this with a reader response sheet. Students can use the sheet to identify their favorite trap from the story and why they liked it. They can also use the sheet to record any key details they learned about the mermaid in the story.
Another way that your students can reflect on the story is to create a can-like-are chart to record details about mermaids. Several different details are included throughout the book, including that mermaids like shiny objects and are courageous. This chart will be a great resource for them as they work through the STEM activity in our next step.
Then, challenge them to experience the steps of how-to writing through a STEM activity.
After reflecting on the book, it’s time to bring it to life with a STEM activity. In this activity, students are going to use bait and a recording sheet to create their own mermaid trap. Grab it HERE.
The first step in this activity is to let the students pick their bait of choice. The bait included in the pack comes straight from the book – crown, seashells, treasure chest, and a necklace. I’ve even included printable pictures that you can use with your students!
Students will pick their bait and then use the recording sheet to explain why they picked that particular bait. After selecting their bait, they can use the recording sheet to share the plans for their trap and how they think it would work.
Finally, lead your students through the writing process to create their own finished how-to writing piece.
After reading the book and working through the STEM project, students will be ready to create their writing pieces. There are several planning pages included to take them through the writing process.
The first step is for students to outline their writing by using the first-next-then-last method. This method gives students an easy map to help them work through their steps. (I even used this method in this blog post for you.) Once they have written out their basic steps, they can move to put them together to create a rough draft.
After editing and revising their draft, they can use the decorative pages included in the packet to create a final draft. I’ve also included bulletin board pieces to make it even easier to display those final drafts!
Not a fan of mermaids?
As I mentioned above, there are currently twelve books in this wonderful series from Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton. I know that mermaids aren’t everyone’s top choice so I’ve been creating resources to go along with each of the books. These resources are available for individual purchase in my shop or you can download them all at a reduced price in the bundle HERE. Repetition is a great way to make sure students are learning a skill so why not do this activity at different times with different books to make sure your teaching of how to writing sticks!?
Want to learn more about explanatory text? Check out THIS post on Teaching Nonfiction.
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