Introduction

You are a 2nd grade (end of year) teacher with the challenge of
teaching a class of 24 students how to create a 5 paragraph paper on
an animal of their choosing. The 1st paragraph is the introduction. The
2nd, 3rd, and 4th paragraphs should reflect what the animal looks like,
eats, and their habitat. The 5th paragraph is the conclusion. As with
most classes, there is a wide range of disparity between your high and
low writers. Your job is to ensure that the natural diversity in the
classroom does not prevent any learner from achieving success with
the writing project. Do not concern yourself with constraints such as
materials, support, or time.
Workshop 3
Now that the students have the information they need, they
need to know how to put that information into a five-paragraph paper.
The students will focus on writing one paragraph at a time with a topic
sentence, detail sentences, and a concluding sentence. They write
down what they know, a draft, then revise and review it.
First review with students how to write a good paragraph.
Organize students in heterogeneous groups according to the
information gathered from the Adjustable-Assignments model. These
groups will being doing four things at four different tables or Centers
(136). This means you will have six students in each group.
1st Center: Show them an example of the simple 5-paragraph essay on
Elephants you wrote. Have students critique another paper written by
a pretend student that has mistakes.
2nd Center: Students write their introduction. Before they start they will
use the Student Self-Assessment (142) and each person in the
group will state: Today, I want to tell you what I am doing and what I
need next (142). They can help one another identify what they need
to do next.
3rd Center: Students write the body of paper. Again each person in the
group will state: Today, I want to tell you what I am doing and what I
need next (142). They can help one another identify what they need
to do next.
4th Center: Students write conclusion of paper. Once more each person
in the group will state: Today, I want to tell you what I am doing and
what I need next (142). They can help one another identify what they
need to do next.
At this point, have the students write in their Journal (62) to
reflect on what they have liked about this project, questions they have,
and things that are easy or difficult. They can draw pictures instead of
using words where applicable. Their journals can help you see who
needs more support and who needs more challenge.

Workshop 4
Often the low writers have a difficult time making connections
and understanding how the information is going to be put together.
The higher-level writers can have focus on the application level of
Blooms Taxonomy (122) during group work.
After their paper is written, they can do an activity to display their
work and share it before the class for an assessment. Introduce the
Choice Board (156-158) by giving them option from the ideas of the
Animal Project (151-152). The choice board gives students several
ways of processing information. You will write the ideas from the
Animal Project on the board. These ideas include:
Use a box to create a habitat that looks like the environment
where your animal lives.
Write a journal pretending that you are an animal expert who is
observing your animal in the wild for a week. Be sure to write
about what it does all day long.
Pretend your animal is being taken to a country where no one
has ever seen that kind of animal before. Write a newspaper
article telling all about it: be sure to include information about
what is eats, what it looks like, its size, its natural habitat, and so
on.
Write a story or poem featuring your animal. Create a poster with
important information about your animal. Posters (145) (152)
(119) Template Below of one example of a poster.
Draw a comic book featuring your animal.
The higher-level students will be grouped into Ability Grouping
(85), which is for the student to work with materials and information
that are challenging and stimulating on a personal level (85), can
work on their activity right away. This will allow them to show their
skills. For the lower level students Multiage Grouping (90) will take
place. Students from higher grades will come into the classroom and
work with the ones who need extra support. These students will have
the opportunity to share what they have learned with an older student
and get further help on their paragraphs. After they receive the extra
help they will be grouped in Flexible Grouping (84) to do their final
activity. This will allow them to choice to work alone, with a partner,
with a small group, and have their own time to work. Because they will
take longer than the other students, have the other students do other
projects that involve their animal such as painting, or creating a web
on the computer of their animal.
Final assessment: Use Reflection Talking Topic (59) to sum up
their whole experience. The students form A/B partners. This can be

partner of choice. They show each other their work and tell each other
two things they have learned from this project. Have the children one
by one stand up in front of the class and show their final activity
project to present all they have learned. They can just show them the
project and say a few things they like most about their animal.