Day 31 - How To Writing

Assignments:

• How -To Writing (see below)

• Practice writing first and last name with proper capitalization (from activity calendar)

• Read for 15 minutes on Raz-Kids

• Spend 15 minutes doing math online (IXL, Khan Academy, Starfall, etc.)

Good morning, kindergarten! Today we’re going to practice more how-to writing.  Last week Mrs. W. showed you how to make a pizza, and some of you even got to make your own pizzas, or made other delicious snacks in your kitchens.  The teachers loved seeing your writing last week!

Today I’m going to teach you to make something you can play with.  I’m going to show you how to make homemade playdough.  Then, I’m going to write about how to make playdough.  I want you to pay close attention to some special words that I use when making the playdough and writing about it.  These words, like first, next, then, and last, are called transitional words or time-order words, and they help learners and readers know the order in which to do things.  Are you ready to make some playdough? 

Directions for Making Playdough

You will need:

1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
3/4 cup of water minus 3 tablespoons
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 packet Kool-Aid (optional for fragrance and coloring)

1. Measure the water and lemon juice into a heatproof, microwavable 2-cup measuring cup and   heat in the microwave until just boiling, about three minutes.  When you remove it, mix in the Kool-Aid (if using)
2. Mix together the flour and salt.
3. Slowly pour the liquid into the flour and salt mixture, and stir with a large spoon until it just begins to form a dough.
4. Drizzle the tablespoon of cooking oil over the dough and stir again until it forms a ball. At this point, you may want to knead the dough with your hands.
5. Allow the dough to cool on aluminum foil, parchment paper, or wax paper. 

Now that I’ve made my playdough, I have written the steps to teach someone else to make it.  The purpose of how-to-writing is to teach someone to do something.  One way to teach someone to do something is to show them, like in the video you just saw.  But you can also teach someone how to do something by writing down the steps and illustrating them.  At the top, I wrote the title: “How to Make Playdough” so my readers know what I’m going to teach them to do.  Then, you can see that I divided my paper into four boxes because I have four steps.  

This first box explains what I need.  I wrote “First, gather all materials.”  Did you notice that I used the word “first?”  Then, in my illustration, I drew pictures and wrote labels for all the different things you need to make playdough: flour, salt, water, lemon juice, and oil.  I also drew a bowl, a measuring cup and a spoon because I needed those things, too. 

In this next box, I wrote, “Next, heat up the water and lemon juice in the microwave.”  I drew a picture of the measuring cup in the microwave, and on the microwave I wrote three minutes, because that’s about how long I needed to keep the water in there.

The third box says, “Then, slowly pour the hot water into the flour and salt.  Stir everything together.” 

This final box says, “Last, add the oil, mix together, and let cool.” 

On my paper here, I wrote out all the steps that I showed you in the video of how to make playdough.  

Today, I want you to show or teach someone in your house how to do something, and then I want you to write the down the steps, just like I did.  You can try cooking something, but you can also show someone how to wash hands, brush your teeth, play a game, or anything else that you’re good at.  Try to include some labels in your pictures.  Make sure to send your writing to your teacher.  We can’t wait to see everyone’s hard work!  Don’t forget to work on your activity calendar and practice Raz-Kids and math online today!