Lesson Plans #3 (How to make a sandwich...)

Posted by Greg Cruey Mar 14, 2006

My kids just have to learn to write. HAVE TO! Of course, that doesn't make them any different from other 4th and 5th graders. But it does make for some fun. One of my favorite approaches to writing is to be practical and concrete. With 10-year-olds, if you ask a kid to write about their philosophy of friendship you don't find out what they think about friends, you find out whether they know what the word philosophy means. Ask them to describe their dog; there's not that much to think about then. Or ask them to tell you about the characters in their favorite television show. It's much easier than explaining world peace or why you do or don't believe in global warming (especially if you're 10). In Lesson Plans #3 I talk in more detail about how to make a sandwich - or at least how to write about how to make a sandwich...