Instructions and ProceduresPlaying Games - Everyone has their favourite games. Share some of your favourites with your friends in the class and explain to them how to play. If they know how to play, they can still listen until you've explained the rules. After you are done, they can correct you, or tell you how they play the game differently. Try explaining games for different situations. What games can you play outside? What games can you play quietly? What games involve lots of people and what games only involve one or two? After you've given your instructions, play your game!
The Nogard - What is a Nogard? It's hard to tell, as there exists no drawing or photograph of one. A Nogard is an ancient animal and the only record of it is a description from an ancient text. So what is a Nogard? The nogard is an animal. It has an oval-shaped body. It has a long neck and tail. The top of the neck, back and tail are covered with a row of triangular-shaped plates. The nogard’s head is shaped like a long triangle. It has big eyes and eyebrows that stick out. It also has big nostrils. Its body is covered with scales. The nogard has four short legs. At the end of each leg is a foot with five toes. Each toe has a sharp claw at the end. The nogard has two wings attached to its body. These are located behind the front legs towards the top of its back. Nogards are usually green but change to a deep purple during the winter months. Follow the instructions and see if you can draw what a Nogard looks like for others to see. Try not to look at what others are drawing and make sure to listen to the instructions carefully.
Sorting and Reading Instructions and Procedures - There are many different types of instructions and procedures, from instructions for games, to recipes for cooking, to directions, to scientific experiments. Looking at and reading the different types of instructions will give us a good sense of what to look for, including language features, text features, organisational framework and content. Look through the texts that are attached and gather other procedures to sort into different categories. These reports can also be used for different engagements or from home.
The Nogard - What is a Nogard? It's hard to tell, as there exists no drawing or photograph of one. A Nogard is an ancient animal and the only record of it is a description from an ancient text. So what is a Nogard? The nogard is an animal. It has an oval-shaped body. It has a long neck and tail. The top of the neck, back and tail are covered with a row of triangular-shaped plates. The nogard’s head is shaped like a long triangle. It has big eyes and eyebrows that stick out. It also has big nostrils. Its body is covered with scales. The nogard has four short legs. At the end of each leg is a foot with five toes. Each toe has a sharp claw at the end. The nogard has two wings attached to its body. These are located behind the front legs towards the top of its back. Nogards are usually green but change to a deep purple during the winter months. Follow the instructions and see if you can draw what a Nogard looks like for others to see. Try not to look at what others are drawing and make sure to listen to the instructions carefully.
Sorting and Reading Instructions and Procedures - There are many different types of instructions and procedures, from instructions for games, to recipes for cooking, to directions, to scientific experiments. Looking at and reading the different types of instructions will give us a good sense of what to look for, including language features, text features, organisational framework and content. Look through the texts that are attached and gather other procedures to sort into different categories. These reports can also be used for different engagements or from home.
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How to Get to School - We all get to school in different ways, but ultimately we end up at the same place. If someone was to wake up in your bed one weekday morning, could you give them exact instructions on how to get to school? Don't forget to include all instructions, as it would be very embarrassing for the person filling your shoes to come to school without remembering to put their clothes on, or without brushing their teeth! Be very specific in all of your instructions.
Jumbled Directions - What happens if the directions you are given get all mixed up? Like a game of Broken Telephone, sometimes we need to be able to put things back the way they should be. Look for clues in the text to figure out what order these jumbled up directions have gotten themselves into and how we can get them right again. |
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Direction Cloze - A Direction Cloze is where we take directions we have written in the past and then take away certain words to see if others can fill them in. Try this with some of your past instructions, or try the two instructions attached. What words do you notice are missing in the example? What words could replace these blanks?
Finding the Way - Often RCHK will have new students and since the school is so big, it can be difficult for them to find their way around. Can you help out a new student by giving them directions on how to get from Point A to Point B? Pick different locations in the school that you think a new student would and should be able to get to. Use measuring tools and maps to help you write a set of instructions for getting to and from different areas.
Finding the Way - Often RCHK will have new students and since the school is so big, it can be difficult for them to find their way around. Can you help out a new student by giving them directions on how to get from Point A to Point B? Pick different locations in the school that you think a new student would and should be able to get to. Use measuring tools and maps to help you write a set of instructions for getting to and from different areas.
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Classroom Procedures - There are lots of things a new student might need to know, other than how to get around. Write some instructions for them on how to do some of the classroom procedures that we need to know. This could be how to return a library book, or what to do at snack, or how we organize ourselves in the morning. Give them some instructions to help them get used to the procedures at RCHK.
Making a Sandwich - We have all made a sandwich before, but what if an Alien came down to the planet and had never made, or heard of a sandwich in their life? How would your instructions for how to make a sandwich change? What if you audience was older than you? What if you audience was younger than you? Write instructions for how to make a sandwich, but write your instructions with a specific audience in mind. Tying Your Shoes - In Year 3, some of us still do not know how to tie our shoes. Do you? What strategy do you use. Try to give instructions using drawings to show how you might tie your shoes. Is there a new and cool way to tie shoes that you have never tried before. See if you can master one or two ways to tie shoes. Drawing Diagrams - What is a diagram? How can it make your instructions and procedures better? Try to find out what makes a diagram different from a regular drawing or picture. Create your own diagrams based on the experiments we are doing in class. |
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Science Experiments - Speaking of scientific experiments... When we are doing experiments we write a specific type of procedure that includes materials, instructions, predictions and observations. Investigate different types of scientific texts and when you are creating or making experiments yourself, try to use what you know about the "Scientific Method" so that others can understand your experiments and how they were done.
How Does it Work? - Some of us are experts on how different things work. Maybe we know a little bit about the water cycle, or how tadpoles become frogs. Maybe we can explain how things work - like the people at my favourite website How Stuff Works. Try to think of something that you know a lot about. Write an explanation of what it is, or how it works, or how things come to be the way they are. How is your explanation different from instructions, or recipes, or rules?
Sorting and Reading Explanations - Continuing on from our Procedures and Instructions, here are some examples of different explanations from students and adults of different writing abilities. What makes a good explanation? How are they different from procedures? How are they similar? Sort the explanations attached and continue to add to the list of explanations as we continue our unit.
Defining Terms - When we are explaining something, we often use Key Words, or Technical Terms that are important to our writing. When we read explanations, we see these key words and knowing what they mean is very important to us understanding the explanation. Sometimes we will check the glossary (more on that later), to see if the words are defined there. Sometimes, we will have to define the word ourselves. Here is an example of the definition of the word Microwave and the different ways we can share it's meaning.
Term - Microwave Oven
Meaning - a household appliance used for cooking food
Features - has a turntable, digital display, found in the kitchen
Example - fan-forced microwave
Putting it Altogether - A microwave oven is a household appliance that cooks food and is usually found in the kitchen. An example is a fan-forced microwave.
Adding to Our Glossary - As we continue to define new words, keep adding them to the glossary of terms in the back of your book. If you do not have a glossary, this is a good time to start.
Enhancing Texts - Take a look at some of the explanation examples that we have found. Some of them are missing features that the others have. What features are they missing? What could be added to the texts that could improve them? Things like Diagrams, Flow Charts, and Pictures are often used in explanations to enhance the text. See if you can improve on the example explanations, or ones that you have written by adding these features.
Explaining How to Use the iPads - In the past, we wrote instructions on how to follow certain school procedures. Our new students were very thankful for your efforts. After this length of time at school, you are likely an expert on how to use the iPad - especially the Apple Pencil. Can you write an explanation for our new students about how to use the iPads? What would you include in your explanation? How is the explanation different to the instructions you wrote before?
Sorting and Reading Explanations - Continuing on from our Procedures and Instructions, here are some examples of different explanations from students and adults of different writing abilities. What makes a good explanation? How are they different from procedures? How are they similar? Sort the explanations attached and continue to add to the list of explanations as we continue our unit.
Defining Terms - When we are explaining something, we often use Key Words, or Technical Terms that are important to our writing. When we read explanations, we see these key words and knowing what they mean is very important to us understanding the explanation. Sometimes we will check the glossary (more on that later), to see if the words are defined there. Sometimes, we will have to define the word ourselves. Here is an example of the definition of the word Microwave and the different ways we can share it's meaning.
Term - Microwave Oven
Meaning - a household appliance used for cooking food
Features - has a turntable, digital display, found in the kitchen
Example - fan-forced microwave
Putting it Altogether - A microwave oven is a household appliance that cooks food and is usually found in the kitchen. An example is a fan-forced microwave.
Adding to Our Glossary - As we continue to define new words, keep adding them to the glossary of terms in the back of your book. If you do not have a glossary, this is a good time to start.
Enhancing Texts - Take a look at some of the explanation examples that we have found. Some of them are missing features that the others have. What features are they missing? What could be added to the texts that could improve them? Things like Diagrams, Flow Charts, and Pictures are often used in explanations to enhance the text. See if you can improve on the example explanations, or ones that you have written by adding these features.
Explaining How to Use the iPads - In the past, we wrote instructions on how to follow certain school procedures. Our new students were very thankful for your efforts. After this length of time at school, you are likely an expert on how to use the iPad - especially the Apple Pencil. Can you write an explanation for our new students about how to use the iPads? What would you include in your explanation? How is the explanation different to the instructions you wrote before?
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Observational Drawings - Something like our diagrams from before, except with a much greater level of detail. Observational Drawings are exactly as they sound, drawing what we observe. When drawing, we sometimes cut corners, or allow our creativity to make choices that are different to what others see, or what we see. With an observational drawing, we are trying our best to draw something exactly how it is. This requires a lot of patience. How would you use observational drawings in an explanation text? Check out the observational drawing of a heart by one of the Year 3 students in 2019. Pretty amazing detail. And no, she did not look at a real heart to draw the picture!
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Cause and Effect Cards - What is a cause? What is an effect? Take a look at the cause and effect cards and see if you can match the effects with their causes. Try to create your own Cause and Effect cards. Can a cause have more than one effect? Can an effect be from more than one cause? How do cause and effects relate to explanations? What words do we use when discussing cause and effect?
Text Feature Scavenger Hunt - Using one or more of the explanations that we have found, and your keen eye, try to highlight and find different features that are common in pieces of writing meant to explain. Highlighting these features is not enough though, try to label what these features are and write down why you think they are important. Make a list of the features you think you would find in most explanations.
Parts of Speech and Language Feature Scavenger Hunt - Explanations also have certain parts of speech and language features that you may happen to find in your scavenger hunt. Highlight and list any of that you find to go with your other list.
Graphic Overlay - Just like when we looked at different information reports, explanations can have a certain look at feel to them. Take a look at different explanations and draw pictures to show where each feature is located. Why are these features important? Are the features often located in the same place, or different places on the page?
Rapid Research - How much can you find out in a very short period of time? Try to find out how something works in as short a period of time as possible. What techniques did you use? What sources were the best for finding out the most information?
The Research Process - When we are writing explanations, as with information reports, it is important for us to follow a research process. We want to come up with an Inquiry Question, write down what we already know about the subject, find good sources of information, find key words, use our visual note taking and take jot notes and finally, we want to write what we find in our own words. It can be a lot of work. Use the template attached, which we used during our information writing to help you with the process of doing your research on different areas of interest throughout the year and read below to find out about each of the steps. Also, you can use the Rough Draft Sheet (pictured below) to take the information you researched to write into your own words.
Text Feature Scavenger Hunt - Using one or more of the explanations that we have found, and your keen eye, try to highlight and find different features that are common in pieces of writing meant to explain. Highlighting these features is not enough though, try to label what these features are and write down why you think they are important. Make a list of the features you think you would find in most explanations.
Parts of Speech and Language Feature Scavenger Hunt - Explanations also have certain parts of speech and language features that you may happen to find in your scavenger hunt. Highlight and list any of that you find to go with your other list.
Graphic Overlay - Just like when we looked at different information reports, explanations can have a certain look at feel to them. Take a look at different explanations and draw pictures to show where each feature is located. Why are these features important? Are the features often located in the same place, or different places on the page?
Rapid Research - How much can you find out in a very short period of time? Try to find out how something works in as short a period of time as possible. What techniques did you use? What sources were the best for finding out the most information?
The Research Process - When we are writing explanations, as with information reports, it is important for us to follow a research process. We want to come up with an Inquiry Question, write down what we already know about the subject, find good sources of information, find key words, use our visual note taking and take jot notes and finally, we want to write what we find in our own words. It can be a lot of work. Use the template attached, which we used during our information writing to help you with the process of doing your research on different areas of interest throughout the year and read below to find out about each of the steps. Also, you can use the Rough Draft Sheet (pictured below) to take the information you researched to write into your own words.
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