Language Arts, Writing, Writing Process, Traits of Writing

Grade 1- 3

Objective

• The child will identify illogical sequence of sentences in a letter.
• The child will retell short stories in sequence.
• The child will place sentences in logical order.

Directions

1. Begin the activity by reading the letter below.
   

Dear Dad,

I had a great time on my field trip. We went to a farm. For lunch, we went to a nearby park. You should have seen the huge fields. I even got to pick a bag of broccoli to take home. They had a petting zoo at the farm, too. There were goats and pigs and rabbits. They were growing broccoli, carrots, lettuce, and tomatoes. We ate our lunches and then played on the swings and slides. A goat tried to eat my shirt! It was right by some mountains. We got back to school just in time to go home. It was a super day.

Your son,

Mario


2. Have the children respond to the letter by telling the things they think are out of order. Read the letter again in logical sequence and compare the two.
   

Dear Dad,

I had a great time on my field trip. We went to a farm. You should have seen the huge fields. They were growing broccoli, carrots, lettuce, and tomatoes. I even got to pick a bag of broccoli to take home. They had a petting zoo at the farm, too. There were goats, pigs, and rabbits. A goat tried to eat my shirt! For lunch, we went to a nearby park. It was right by some mountains. We ate our lunches and then played on the swings and slides. We got back to school just in time to go home. It was a super day.

Your son,

Mario


3. Provide each child with a copy of Logical Sequence Lesson 1. The children are asked to read short stories and then retell the stories by cutting and pasting sentences in proper sequence.
4. For an additional challenge, provide the children with copies of Logical Sequence Lesson 2. The children are to read the short letters and underline the sentences that are out of order.
5. Logical Sequence Lesson 3 can be given to those children who would like to have an even greater challenge. The children are asked to cut and paste a group of sentences to make a logically sequenced letter.
6. Finally, instruct each child to write a letter to a friend or family member about a recent school event. Have the child think of the order of things that occurred and write the letter using logical sequence.

1. Have each child edit and rewrite his or her letter. Encourage each child to deliver his or her letter in person or by mail.
2. Computer Connection: Invite interested students to type their letters using a word-processing program.

1. Lesson Objective: Evaluate each child's progress by reviewing each child's completed Logical Sequence work sheets.
2. Writing Applications: Use your choice of rubrics from pages 134-139 to evaluate each child's written work. Based on the rubric score, determine the need for reteaching or further practice. Record skills mastery on the checklist on pages 140 and 141. If desired, have each child evaluate his or her own work using the self-assessment sheet on page 142.

Resources

Logical Sequence Lessons 1, 2, and 3, pages 59-61