Connecting the story "Diary of a Worm" to a daily activity diary

Sarah Mathews, Ramsey Elementary, Montevideo, MN
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Summary

After teaching about earthworms in science, we will complete a reading/language arts lesson about earthworms.
The teacher will read the story, "Diary of a Worm" by Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss to the students. They will discuss how this story brings nonfiction and fiction together. The students will keep a day by day activity diary of all the things that happen in their life. Using a Venn diagram, the students will compare how their life to the worms.

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Learning Goals

Goals:
1. The students will use prior knowledge to review and discuss the differences between fiction and nonfiction.
2. The students will create and write a daily activity diary.
Concepts:
The concepts the students will cover include, fiction and nonfiction, and working on reading and writing skills.
Vocab:

-Fiction

-Nonfiction

-Diary

-Graphic organizer

Context for Use

This lesson will continue over several days. The lesson will start as a whole group in the classroom and then become individual as the students work on creating their personal diaries. The materials that are needed are a copy of the book "Diary of a Worm" and a writing journal for each student. The students have previously discussed earthworms in science. This activity would be easy to adapt to other settings.

Description and Teaching Materials

This activity follows a science lesson about earthworms. The materials that are needed are a copy of the book "Diary of a Worm" by Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss and a writing journal for each student. The lesson will be introduced by reading the book, "Diary of a Worm" by Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss. The teacher and students will then have a discussion about the sequence of the book and how it brings nonfiction and fiction together. After discussing the book, the students will create their own day-by-day activity diary. The lesson will continue for a week. The lesson will close by having the students use a Venn diagram to compare their life to the worm.

Teaching Notes and Tips

Because the students will be creating/writing a daily activity diary, make sure you do this lesson when your students are ready to write independently.

Assessment

I will collect each student's daily activity diary. I will check that they have an entry from all of the days.

Standards

Grade 1
I. Reading and Literature B. Vocabulary Expansion(2), C. Comprehension (1,8,9), and D. Literature (2,4)
II. Writing A. Types of Writing (2)

References and Resources