Tying together a reward for effort and how-to writing: one activity that serves two goals

The past two weeks have been extra busy because my first graders have been taking NWEA standardized tests in addition to our regular schedule of activities.  To more efficiently use our class time in school, I combined our celebration for the efforts my students put forth on our NWEA testing with our Lucy Calkins writing program.  We are writing within the informational genre, specifically how-to writing.  Consequently, we not only physically made the popcorn, but concurrently wrote directions for how to make popcorn.

First the writer needs to list exactly what is needed to complete the how-to.  When you make popcorn, you need a microwave, plates, and popcorn.

This is the written model of the first step in our how-to writing.  Notice how the illustrations, labels, and the caption support the written text. 

We continued to both physically make the popcorn and write the directions until the popcorn was popped.   This is our final written step:

Our last step was to eat the popcorn!

Here are pictures of some of the first graders enjoying the popcorn while writing in the how-to genre.  

So, on a cold, Friday afternoon in January preceding a three-day weekend, we celebrated our efforts on NWEA testing, learned how to write how-to directions, and ate popcorn. It was a win-win-win activity!