- Practice informative/ explanatory writing
- Develop vocabulary
- Participate in group discussions
Copies of Our Great Community Writing Activity
Step 1. To encourage students to enhance their writing with details and descriptions, start by reading them the two examples below—one that is nondescriptive and one that includes a lot of descriptive detail:
- The playground is fun.
- The playground has a big yellow tube slide and swings that go really high.
Ask students how each sentence makes them feel and why. Do they get the same picture in their minds for each sentence? Help students understand that the second sentence is more interesting and helps us paint a better picture of the playground in our minds because it has more detail and descriptive language.
Step 2. Next, ask students to think about your community. Explain that a community is a group of people who live in the same area, such as a neighborhood, town, or city. Ask students to identify your community.
Step 3. Have students practice using details by providing a descriptive example of a person or place in your community.
Step 4. Distribute copies of the student activity sheet and review it with the class. As a group, brainstorm answers to the questions about the people, places, geography, and things to do in your community.
Step 5. Have students work independently to complete the activity sheet and write an informative paragraph that describes your community. Encourage them to think about what makes the community special and to use exciting words so that people who are unfamiliar with your community might want to visit.
Step 6. Ask students to draw a picture to go with their descriptions.