I asked the class how to blow a bubble. Of course they yelled, "Put it in your mouth and chew!" like I was crazy for even asking. So I did it, wrapper and all. First, yuck! Second, they started to realize how explicit instructions need to be to teach the reader. We decided to take off the wrapper and put the gum in our mouth. Then we agreed to chew until the gum got soft. (Pretty important step.) Next came my favorite part of the lesson. When asked what comes next, one boy said, "Wrap the gum around your tongue like a blanket." What a great visual! P.S. All the kids blatantly stole his wording, which I loved. Last we blow and blow until the bubble pops.
Not all the of the kids could blow a bubble, but boy did they love trying! One girl got upset she couldn't do it. It was fun to watch the kids who could try to teach her.
*Drum roll* I present my Bubble Blowing Bandits!
They've never been so on task all year! The second boy pictured won the bubble blowing contest. Right after I snapped the picture the bubble popped all over his face.
The kids used our "How to..." organizing writing paper to create a rough draft of their paragraphs. The next day they corrected errors and edited a partner's work (checking for punctuation and capitals) and began final drafts.
After the final drafts were finished we made a "How to Blow a Bubble" craftivity using construction paper to make their faces and balloons as bubbles. Each student pasted the final instructions under their big balloon bubble. This was by far the best writing lesson I've ever taught. It will definitely get repeated in coming years!
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