Re: Teaching Organization -- Six Traits

[Lori Davis <ldavis@scnc.deerfield.k12.mi.us>]

Melody,

I second Robin's suggestion about using cut apart comic strips to help
students sequence a story.  Then I proceed to a piece that I've written
that I've cut apart into paragraphs; they have to put the piece together
in a way that makes sense and justify their placement.  (You could also
use a children's book if you wanted an intermediate step.  Maybe that's
what "Zoom" is that Robin referred to-- I don't know that title.)

When we write expository pieces, sometimes I have kids use one piece of
paper for the intro, one for the conclusion, and one for however many
points they want to make in between.  This is a visual reminder of the
"sandwich" nature of a piece, and we actually draw a hamburger on the
paper and label the part that's being written on that page.  It sounds
silly, but it helps some kids.

Lori