Objective: Students will be able to use descriptive words in functional writing. Students will understand functional writing and be able to give specific examples. Students will continue working on a functional writing piece independently.

Procedure: 1. Review functional writing, ask for examples discussed so far in this unit.2. Tell students we are going to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Students should think about what we need, and what should we do.3. Whole group discussion on how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Reinforce the importance of descriptive words. Instead of “put peanut butter on bread” it should be “using a knife, scoop some peanut butter out of the container and spread it evenly onto 1 slice of bread”. 4. Review expectations for functional writing. Students need 8 directions, list of things needed for activity/recipe/activity. 5. Students will continue brainstorming ideas of a functional writing topic, or begin writing on a chosen topic.

Materials: Paper, Pencil, Whiteboard, Markers, Writing NotebookAssessment: observationGrouping: whole group, individual

This lesson was during the second week in a functional writing unit. Students quickly

reviewed what they learned about functional writing so far, such as the importance of order and

descriptive words. Students also reviewed the definition of functional writing as well as

identifying an audience. As a group, we had completed directions on how to take care of a

guinea pig, and how to brush our teeth. By the end of this unit, students will complete their own

functional writing piece. During this lesson, I was still trying to get students to understand the

importance of descriptive language. Students were using vague language when trying to describe

a direction such as “a little bit” or “some”. I modeled several times how we could write

directions, and how we should write directions. I modeled how to re-read portions of writing and

self-question to ensure it made sense to the reader.

During writing, there are 2 students who struggle completing quick writes in the writing

time frame and 1 student who is very advanced. The lower level students are capable of

completing the same work as their peers, but require some modifications. For 1 student, he

preferred to use pictures and words to describe his activity since his penmanship is weak. I

suggested he write about how to draw a picture since he would include shortened steps and

pictures. He chose to write about how to draw a shark which turned out perfectly. The other

student wrote shorter sentences and only 5 numbered directions since she talked about how to

make a snack she eats at home. The advanced student normally goes above and beyond without

being asked to do so. He wrote about how to make and bake chocolate chip cookies and was

encouraged to use advanced vocabulary. His work was very thorough, descriptive, and lengthy

which took him the same amount of time as the rest of class who completed fewer steps.

Since writing is ongoing for each unit until the final piece is completed, I used

observation and individual writing conferences as assessment. I always try to meet with several

students during individual writing time to ensure they are on track and to clear up any

misunderstandings about the assignment.

I feel this lesson was effective because I heard “a-ha!” moments from students when we

were talking about how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. By the end of whole group

instruction, many students were catching on to my expectations but occasionally sighed when

each descriptive had to be long. I tried to make the lesson fun and all students were engaged

throughout writing. I kept referring back to previous pieces we had created as a class as a

reminder when they got to write independently.

The lesson was also standard based including:

ELA-Literacy.W.3.10Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

ELA-Literacy.L.3.1Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.