Hamburger Analogy of Writing

These are facts about the Saguaro Cactus. In the fruit there is 2000 seeds. Its lives for 200 years. It grows flowers, then it grows fruit. It grows in the Arizona desert. The Saguaro Cactus is the largest cactus.

The Saguaro Cactus lives in the desert. It has ribs. The Saguaro Cactus lives 200 years. (to be finished.)

This model helps demonstrate how we create a topic sentence, embellish with details, then come to a conclusion when writing for information.

 

Today's writing lesson was focused around organizing our thoughts when writing an expository (informational) piece. I use the "hamburger" model to show how it goes together.  The buns represent the topic and conclusion.  You need a bun to start your burger and a bottom bun holds it all in.  Inside are the toppings--or great details, facts and explanations about your topic sentence.  The more toppings, the more delicious (or enriching) the writing will be.  We wrote an informational piece about the Sagauro Cactus, the largest cacti in the world.  We gathered information from the book, "Cactus Hotel," and prewrote out our facts. Then, I gave the students different colored sheets of paper to represent the layers of the burger to complete their paragraph. 

 

The Saguaro Cactus is giant! It lives for 200 years. It lives in Arizona. It has flowers. The Saguaro Cactus is the largest cactus.

Saguaro Cactus is one type of cactus. Animals eat the flowers. It is huge!! It is a home to animals. There are facts about the Saguaro cactus.

 



Spring has Sprung!

I reflect back on these past 6 months, and think about how each Bumblebee started the year.  I have observed so much growth, both academically and socially!  This week the Bumblebees were so proud to have their own published book! We have shared them at Gathering, and they get to read them in the Author's Chair in the Library today. We have also started to study nature around us, using inquiry to guide our study. On Wednesday, I gave the group a box of seeds and had the explore them with the microscopes.  Great questions came up, especially around the idea of why some seeds have umbrellas (dandelions), many are smooth, (beans, pumpkins), and while others "feel velcroy." I asked today what will be the first thing that happens to a planted seed.  We have mixed hypotheses whether the stem or root will come out first. In addition, we are keeping lots of observable and measurable data, and will be introducing the concept of control and variable in later experiments.