In an attempt to help my students become better communicators and writers, I have developed a unit that uses art to enhance purposeful talk and elaborative writing by using the five senses. This unit begins with introducing turn and talk to the student with the teacher modeling and creating an anchor chart for the classroom. Students will practice turn and talk throughout the year to build their conversation skills. The next lesson focuses on the five senses and describes two familiar pictures with the sense in mind. The teacher will aid in the discussion by providing simple questions to get the students to begin the discussion. To conclude the unit, students will use the images to help them become better writers. Again with the teacher modeling each lesson, the students will become better at writing narratives. The artwork will serve as a means of developing ideas and sentences. Students will have the opportunity to work in whole and small groups as well as independently based on the learning styles of the classroom.
(Developed for Elementary Writers Workshop, grade 3; recommended for Elementary Writers Workshop, grade 3)
