1. My Perfect Pet
Materials and Preparation
Notebook paper (2 pieces per student)
Construction paper (1 piece per student)
Paper (1 and a half pieces per student)
Colored pencils, markers, and crayons
Scissors
Glue
Whiteboard and markers
Key Terms
writing process
brainstorm
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to understand and follow the writing process from start to finish.
Introduction
(5 minutes)
Begin the lesson by telling your students that they will be writing a story to describe their
perfect pets.
Tell them that to do this, they will be following the writing process, in which they
brainstorm, or come up with ideas, follow an outline to write a rough draft, and then
rewrite the rough draft so that it is nice and neat.
Finally, inform them that they will make a craft of their favorite pets to display.
Explicit Instruction/Teacher Modeling
(10 minutes)
Draw a web on the board, and put an animal in the center, such as an elephant.
Draw a branch, and write Looks like on it.
Ask your students to give you examples of what an elephant looks like, and write it on
that branch.
Next, repeat the previous steps for Feels like, Smells like, and Sounds like.
Then, label a branch We would, and ask students to give examples of what they would do
with their pet elephant.
Guided Practice/Interactive Modeling
2. (35 minutes)
Have students go to their desks.
Give each student a piece of notebook paper.
Have them draw and complete their own webs for the animals they think would be the
perfect pet for them. Encourage them to be creative with their pets, such as writing about
a dragon.
Walk around the room to make sure they are following the example with all of the
branches.
Then, give students an outline on the board, such as: My perfect pet is a ____. Her name
is ____. She looks like ____. She smells like ____. She feels like ____. She sounds like
____. We would ____, ____, and ____.
Instruct them to follow the outline or write it their own way on the back of their webs,
and have them write paragraphs on their pets.
Show them how to make a 3-D version of their pets.
Give your students paper, and have them fold them in half, hamburger style. Have your
students follow the instructions with you.
Show them how to draw the legs. From the bottom of the non-fold side, start about an
inch from the side edge, draw up two inches, draw a scoop for the belly over to about
three inches in from the other side of the paper, and then draw a a line down.
Next, cut out along the pencil marks, and end up with a rectangle with legs. Fold the feet
so it stands.
Give each student a half sheet of paper to make the face, tail, and any other extra parts
needed, such as a nose, fins, or wings.
Glue those pieces in place. Secure the head to one side of the body so that it is facing you
and the students.
Independent Working Time
(30 minutes)
Have students color their perfect pet models.
In the meantime, give your students the opportunity to revise their paragraphs. Go around
the classroom and read their paragraphs, editing as you go along. Alternatively, have your
students exchange papers with each other to correct.
Once their pets are complete, have them finish rewriting their final drafts, if needed.
Once that is complete, have them pick a piece of construction paper to mount their final
drafts on.
Then, have them glue only the back of their pets to the bottom of the construction paper
while allowing the outer half to be lifted.
Hang them on display for others to see.
Differentiation
3. Enrichment: Challenge your advanced students to write more than what is given on the
outline. For example, have them write two descriptions of what the animals look like,
sound like, smell like, or feel like.
Support: Help your students fill out their webs if needed, and have them write single
sentences for each branch. Encourage them to be as descriptive as possible in those
sentences.
Assessment
(5 minutes)
As you go around editing your students' papers, check to make sure that they are using
correct grammar and sentence structure.
Review and Closing
(5 minutes)
Have your students look at the projects and point out creative aspects
