This writing and art project was written by Northern Nevada teacher Jennifer Floyd during the NNWP's inservice class on Art & Writing Projects. Jennifer is a second grade teacher in Northern Nevada.
This page contains the writing portion of this two-part lesson. Click here to view the accompanying art lesson plan.
Jennifer's Lesson Overview:
Students will learn about alliteration and write a sentence about an insect. Students will create a vibrantly painted version of their insect to accompany their alliterative sentence. This lesson was used in a second grade classroom but could be adapted for other grade levels by increasing the number of required sentences or by creating group or whole-class sentences with younger grades.
Read the book Some Smug Slug by Pamela Duncan Edwards. Halfway through the story, stop and have students discuss with a partner what they notice about each page.
Discuss the word alliteration and what it means. As you finish the book remind them to listen for the alliteration. At the end discuss alliteration and the meaning one more time.
As whole group start working on a whole class alliteration chart for a chosen insect. Do one letter each day. Here is an example:
Grasshopper...letter G
nouns
glasses, grass, go-carts
verbs
go, grab, grip
adjectives
green, grassy, groggy
other words
gripping, Greece, gaily
Once you have one letter done have students practice orally making up silly alliterations for that insect.
Each day repeat this process. The more oral practice they get the better they will be at doing the project independently.
At the end of the week, have students create their own alliteration about the insect of their choice.
They must proofread it and check their spelling.
Have them write a final copy and glue it onto art work. (Art Project)
Share them with the class.
Some Teaching "Hints" from this Lesson's Author:
Do lots and lots of oral practice with alliteration before asking students to do it independently.
Challenge students to continue using alliteration during recess. Invite them to share after recess.
We're Seeking Photographed Student Samples:
Teachers: We're looking for photographed student samples for this lesson that we can feature here. Do you have a revised and edited sample to share? Take a photo of the final product, and send attachments to us at publish@writingfix.com. Please write "Alliteration Insects" in your e-mail's subject line. If we publish your sample here, we will send you a complimentary copy of one of the NNWP's Print Publications for your classroom.
