Wilbur's First Day Language Arts Lesson Plan, Thematic Unit, Activity, Worksheet, or Reading or Writing Teaching Idea

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Illinois State Goals: 1. Read with understanding and fluency
2. Read and understand literature representative of various societies, eras, and ideas
3. Write to communicate for a variety of purposes

Instructional Objective:
Students will write a short story of one or two paragraphs about Wilbur's first day in the manure pile in the cellar of Zuckerman's barn.

Anticipatory Set:
* I will begin by asking the children how they like the story so far.
* I will ask them what they think of Wilbur: Is he a nice pig? Is he mean? Does he sound like fun? Would you like to have a pet pig?
* I will ask the children if they know what manure is. I will explain to them what manure is, and how it helps farmers to fertilize their land so they can grow more crops. I will also explain to them that pigs enjoy playing in mud, dirt, and manure.

Activities:
1. I will ask them why they think pigs like to be dirty. I will ask them how they think Wilbur felt when he played in the manure pile.
2. I will tell the children to pretend that they are Wilbur. I will instruct them to try to think as if they are actually him.
3. I will explain that each student will be given a writer's notebook to write in during the course of the week. I will pass out the notebooks, instruct students to write their names on the front, and tell them to open them up to the first page.
4. I will instruct the children to put their ideas down on paper. The children should write short accounts of Wilbur's first day in the manure pile, from his point of view. I will stress to them that they should use the words "I" and "me" since they are pretending to be Wilbur.
5. Students will have about thirty to forty-five minutes to complete their accounts.

Adaptations:
Cassie (LD)- While the other students are writing, I will allow her to come to a quiet corner with me. There, I will ask her questions about how she thinks Wilbur felt, and I will write her responses down.

Closure:
* When students have finished, I will call upon students to share their stories about Wilbur's experience.
* I will instruct the children to put their notebooks in their desks because they will be using them throughout the week.

Evaluation:
Students will be evaluated on the length and quality of their writing. Stories must be at least one paragraph long, and they must be from Wilbur's point of view.

LessonPlansPage.com would like to take a moment to let you know about Concordia University's new Master’s Degrees in Education that you can complete online in just one year!

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