Students will analyze and judge a holiday from the perspective of another holiday's mascot.
Students choose their two holidays and the mascot they'll be using.
Students brainstorm facts about both holidays using three categories that they choose (food, songs, decorations, clothing, etc).
Using their mascot's perspective, students write about each of those categories.
Students take that writing and turn it into a final product of your (or their) choosing.
Students will use key words to upgrade their compare and contrast writing from a mere list of facts to a deeper analysis.
Students pick the two related topics and brainstorm facts about them, noting which are facts unique to one of the topics and which are shared.
Students look for three patterns in their brainstormed facts, these will eventually become the paragraphs students write.
They add one of five keywords to their patterns to add a layer of analysis.
Students write out a paragraph using the keyword plus pattern.
Students will notice the parallel between an essay's overall structure and the structure of an individual paragraph.
Students will write (and re-write) directions to build a simple toy.
Groups of three get ten random toy bricks. They design a simple toy using them.
Now, they write their first draft of directions to build the toy. They define terminology as needed.
Next, they practice within their group and with another group of students in the class. They revise their directions to clear up confusion.
Now, they practice with groups of younger students, take notes, and then revise again.
Finally, they publish a final version of their directions.