Writing, Speaking, and Listening: Writing and Watercoloring for the Performance Task | EL Education Curriculum

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ELA GK:M4:U3:L7

Writing, Speaking, and Listening: Writing and Watercoloring for the Performance Task

In this Lesson

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These are the CCS Standards addressed in this lesson:

  • W.K.5: With guidance and support from adults, respond to questions and suggestions from peers and add details to strengthen writing as needed.
  • W.K.8: With guidance and support from adults, recall information from experiences or gather information from provided sources to answer a question.
  • SL.K.1: Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about kindergarten topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups.
  • SL.K.1a: Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., listening to others and taking turns speaking about the topics and texts under discussion).
  • SL.K.4: Describe familiar people, places, things, and events and, with prompting and support, provide additional detail.
  • SL.K.6: Speak audibly and express thoughts, feelings, and ideas clearly.
  • L.K.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
  • L.K.2a: Capitalize the first word in a sentence and the pronoun I.
  • L.K.2b: Recognize and name end punctuation.
  • L.K.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on kindergarten reading and content.
  • L.K.4b: Use the most frequently occurring inflections and affixes (e.g., -ed, -s, re-, un-, pre-, -ful, -less) as a clue to the meaning of an unknown word.

Daily Learning Targets

  • I can edit my writing to match my tree sketch. (W.K.5, W.K.8, SL.K.1a, SL.K.6, L.K.2a, L.K.2b)
  • I can track the progress of my artwork through writing and drawing. (W.K.8, SL.K.4)

Ongoing Assessment

  • During Work Time A, as students edit their writing, use the Opinion Writing Checklist to track progress toward W.K.5, W.K.8, L.K.2a, and L.K.2b (see Assessment Overview and Resources).

Agenda

AgendaTeaching Notes

1. Opening

A. Poem and Movement: "The Cat, the Tree, and Me" (5 minutes)

B. Engaging the Learner: Inflectional Endings Game (10 minutes)

2. Work Time

A. Preparing the Writer: Performance Task (15 minutes)

B. Engaging the Artist: Watercoloring (20 minutes)

3. Closing and Assessment

A. Independent Writing: Performance Task Art Planner (10 minutes)

Purpose of lesson and alignment to standards:

  • In the Opening and Work Time B, students are introduced to the inflectional endings -ful and -less. The words from the poem that include those inflectional endings are underlined and then students participate in a charades-based game using those inflectional endings (L.K.4b).
  • In Work Time A, students review their revised writing from Unit 3 Assessment, Part I: Why a Tree Is Nice and edit it for conventions (L.K.2a, L.K.2b). Recall that this writing is typed on the Performance Task: Tree Appreciation card. Students first see the process of editing a capital letter in the first word of the sentence and for a period at the end of the sentence modeled, and then students edit their own writing.
  • In Work Time C, students begin watercoloring onto a copy of their Performance Task Artwork template. By providing students with a photocopy of the template, you are able to have backup copies in case of spills or mistakes.

How this lesson builds on previous work:

  • Students continue to work with the poem "The Cat, the Tree, and Me" from Lesson 6 as they learn about inflectional endings and how they give meanings to unknown words.
  • In Work Time A, students continue to use the photocopied version of their Unit 3 Assessment, Part I writing, revised in Lesson 6, to edit for punctuation and capitalization.
  • In Work Time C, students use photocopies of their outlined final sketch from Lesson 6 to begin watercoloring.
  • In the Closing, students complete the next entry in the Performance Task Art planner begun in Lesson 5.

Areas in which students may need additional support:

  • Editing writing for conventions can be difficult to organize and mark clearly. Consider allotting extra time to allow students to mark their edits clearly and ensure students understand the changes they are making.
  • As students edit and write in Work Time A and write in their Performance Task Art planners in the Closing, remind them to use the classroom resources to improve their writing, such as Word Walls, anchor charts, and texts. Consider allowing students to select a work area in the room that allows them to best use the resources they need.

Down the road:

  • Review students' revised and edited writing on Unit 3 Assessment, Part I: Why a Tree Is Nice for clarity. If needed, consider writing a "clean copy" of students' writing to support them as they rewrite in their best handwriting to publish in Lesson 8.
  • Work Time in Lesson 8 can be repeated as an optional Lesson 9 "flex day" to give students more time to explore technology and publish their writing.
  • In Lessons 9-10, students will continue to work on their art piece for the performance task. They will continue the watercoloring routine to add layers and complete their art.
  • In Lessons 9-10, students will continue to use the Performance Task Art planner to reflect upon their work and plan for next steps.

In Advance

  • Prepare:
    • Student workspaces for editing in Work Time A with students' Unit 3 Assessment, Part I: Why a Tree Is Nice and colored pencils.
    • Photocopies of students' Performance Task Artwork templates to use during future watercoloring sessions. Consider copying the Performance Task Artwork templates onto watercolor paper or cardstock for students to create a higher-quality painting.
    • Student workspaces for watercoloring in Work Time C by placing Performance Task Art templates, palettes, cups of water, paintbrushes, and paper towels at each.
  • Post: Learning targets, "The Cat, the Tree, and Me," and applicable anchor charts (see materials list).

Tech and Multimedia

  • Continue to use the technology tools recommended throughout Modules 1-3 to create anchor charts to share with families; to record students as they participate in discussions and protocols to review with students later and to share with families; and for students to listen to and annotate text, record ideas on note-catchers, and word-process writing.

Supporting English Language Learners

Supports guided by in part by CA ELD Standards K.I.A.1, K.I.C.10, and K.I.C.12

Important points in the lesson itself

  • The basic design of this lesson supports ELLs by guiding them through the process of revising their writing and sketches using models, discussion, specific steps, and criteria.
  • ELLs may find it challenging to understand the language and instructions in the Opening poem and inflectional ending game. Consider focusing attention first on the root word, then on how it changes by adding -less (see levels of support and the Meeting Students' Needs column).

Levels of support

For lighter support:

  • During the Opening and Work Time B, invite students to restate in partners and whole class how the meaning of the root words changes when you add -less. Encourage them to explain their reasoning with specific examples.

For heavier support:

  • During the Opening, create a T-chart with the root words in the left column and the words with inflectional endings in the right column. Add visuals and color-coding for each word to support comprehension. Review each root word and its corresponding word with an inflectional ending with the students through call and response. (Example: "I say fear, you say fearless.")
  • During Work Time B, add the words to the chart created in the Opening and repeat the routine.

Universal Design for Learning

  • Multiple Means of Representation (MMR): Continue to support comprehension by activating prior knowledge and scaffold connections for students.
  • Multiple Means of Action and Expression (MMAE): Continue to offer scaffolds for students learning to set appropriate personal goals. Recall that appropriate goal-setting supports the development of executive skills and strategies.
  • Multiple Means of Engagement (MME): Recall that some students may need additional support in linking the information presented in the text back to the learning target. Invite students to make this connection by explicitly highlighting the utility and relevance of the text to the learning target.

Vocabulary

Key: Lesson-Specific Vocabulary (L); Text-Specific Vocabulary (T); Vocabulary Used in Writing (W)

New:

  • background (L)
  • inflectional ending, fearless, careless, joyless (T)

Review:

  • edit, capital letter, period, watercolor (L)

Materials

  • "The Cat, the Tree, and Me" (from Lesson 6; one to display)
  • Unit 3 Assessment, Part I: Why a Tree Is Nice (from Lesson 3; revised during Work Time A; one per student)
  • High-Quality Work anchor chart (begun in Module 2)
  • Model Unit 3 Assessment, Part I: Why a Tree Is Nice (from Lesson 3; revised during Work Time A; one to display)
  • Colored pencils (one per student and one for teacher modeling)
  • Performance Task Artwork template (begun in Lesson 4; added to during Work Time C; one per student and one to display)
  • Model Watercolor 1 (one to display; see Performance Task Overview)
  • Watercoloring supplies:
    • Palette (one per student)
    • Cups of water (one or two per workspace)
    • Paintbrushes (one per student)
    • Paper towel (one sheet per student)
  • Clipboards (one per student)
  • Performance Task Art planner (begun in Lesson 5; added to during the Closing; one per student and one for teacher modeling)
  • Pencils (one per student)

Materials from Previous Lessons

New Materials

Assessment

Each unit in the K-2 Language Arts Curriculum has one standards-based assessment built in. The module concludes with a performance task at the end of Unit 3 to synthesize their understanding of what they accomplished through supported, standards-based writing.

Opening

OpeningMeeting Students' Needs

A. Poem and Movement: "The Cat, the Tree, and Me" (5 minutes)

  • Gather students whole group.
  • Display "The Cat, the Tree, and Me" poem and read the title.
  • Follow the same routine established in Modules 1-3 to read "The Cat, the Tree, and Me":
    • Direct students' attention to the posted poem.
    • Invite them to read along as you point to the text and act out their motions.
  • Tell students that this poem includes words with inflectional endings. Tell students that an inflectional ending is a group of letters added to an end of a word to change its meaning.
  • Underline the inflectional ending -less in the poem and tell students that when a word ends with -less, that means it does not have it. Explain the meanings of the following words and invite students to act out the meaning of each:
    • fearless: not having fear; without fear
    • careless: not caring; without care
    • joyless: not having joy; without joy
  • If time permits, reread the poem and invite students to act out the different meanings of the words with the inflectional ending -less.
  • For ELLs: (Inflectional Endings: Color-Coding) In addition to underlining, consider also shading or highlighting the endings of the words you would like students to focus on in the poem. Throughout the remainder of the unit, invite students to find and color-code the endings throughout the classroom and in their own writing.

B. Engaging the Learner: Inflectional Endings Game (10 minutes)

  • Refocus whole group.
  • Remind students that they learned the inflectional endings -less with the poem "The Cat, the Tree, and Me" in Opening A.
  • With excitement, tell students that they will now play a charades game to practice how the inflectional ending -less changes the meaning of a word.
  • Lead students through the following game routine:
    • Say the root word aloud: "help."
    • Tell students that when you say the word with an inflectional ending attached, they should stand up and act out the new meaning with a partner.
    • Say the word: "helpless."
    • Invite students to stand up and act out being helpless with a partner (e.g., refusing to help their partner; acting as though you are stuck and no one will help you; etc.).
    • Say the root word: "power."
    • Tell students that when you say the word with an inflectional ending attached, students can stand up and act out the new meaning with a partner.
    • Say the word: "powerless."
    • Invite students to stand up and act out being powerless with a partner (e.g., acting weak).
  • Provide specific, positive feedback on students' ability to engage in a fun, new game.
  • For students who may need additional support with auditory processing: Provide visual display of root words and inflectional ending using prepared index cards to join the ending to root word during the game. (MMR)

Work Time

Work TimeMeeting Students' Needs

A. Preparing the Writer: Performance Task (15 minutes)

  • Refocus whole group.
  • Remind students that in the previous lesson, they revised their writing from Unit 3 Assessment, Part I: Why a Tree Is Nice to include details about the tree part.
  • Tell students that today they will edit their writing to ensure it is high-quality. Remind students that this writing will go on their Performance Task: Tree Appreciation card.
  • Direct students' attention to the High-Quality Work anchor chart and reread the big ideas. Focus students on: 
    • "is written in your best handwriting"
  • Remind students that part of writing in your "best handwriting" is making sure you capitalize the first word of the sentence and to end your sentence with a period.
  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read the first one aloud:

"I can edit my writing to match my tree sketch."

  • Tell students that today they will edit their writing for capital letters and periods.
  • Display the revised Model Unit 3 Assessment, Part I: Why a Tree Is Nice and read it aloud: 
    • "trees are nice because they have leaves that make the world better"
  • Think aloud as you model editing the sentence for capitalization:
    • Direct students' attention to the first word in the sentence: "trees."
    • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"Is this a capital 'T' or a lowercase 't'? How do you know?" (lowercase)

"Should this letter be capitalized? Why or why not?" (Yes, because it is the first word in the sentence.)

    • Model using a colored pencil to cross out the lowercase "t" and write a capital "T" above it.
    • Invite students to trace a capital "T" in the air as you write it above the edited letter.
  • Think aloud as you model editing the sentence for punctuation:
    • Direct students' attention to the last word in the sentence: "better".
    • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"Is this sentence complete? Why or why not?" (No, because it does not have a period at the end.)

    • Model using a colored pencil to write a period at the end of the sentence.
    • Invite students to make the motion of a period with their finger in the air as you write the period at the end of the sentence.
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What will you edit in your writing today?" (I will add a capital letter for the first word and a period at the end of my sentence.)

  • Tell students that they will find their Unit 3 Assessment, Part I: Why a Tree Is Nice and colored pencils at their workspaces.
  • Transition students to their workspaces and invite them to move like a tree blowing around in a storm.
  • Invite students to begin editing their writing for capitalization and punctuation.
  • Circulate to support them as they edit, and refer them to the displayed model as needed. 
  • After about 5 minutes, ask students to return the colored pencils to the designated areas.
  • Refocus students in the whole group meeting area.
  • Provide specific, positive feedback on students' ability to edit their writing.
  • Tell students that now that their writing has been revised and edited you will type their writing for their Performance Task: Tree Appreciation card.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with planning: (Peer Modeling and Leadership) Invite a few students to repeat the steps and model in front of the class the steps they will take to revise their sentence. (MMAE)
  • For ELLs: (Oral Language: Reviewing Work) After students have completed their revisions and before they gather together again, invite them to share what they've revised with a partner.

B. Engaging the Artist: Watercoloring (20 minutes)

  • Refocus whole group. 
  • With excitement, share with students that they will now get to watercolor the outlined sketch from Lesson 6.
  • Display the Performance Task Artwork template.
  • Point to the background of the sketch and tell students that they will be painting the background, or the space outside their sketch, today with a light color.
  • Display Model Watercolor 1 to give an example of how to paint just the background.
  • Tell students that they will have multiple days to create their best watercolor paintings, so they should take their time.
  • Tell students that their Performance Task Artwork templates and watercoloring supplies are at their workspaces.
  • Transition students to their workspaces and invite students to trace their finger over the background of their sketch.
  • Invite them to begin watercoloring the background by following the same routine from Unit 2:
    1. Carefully open the watercolor palette.
    2. Dip your paintbrush into the cup of water one or two times.
    3. Gently mix the wet paintbrush into the color. Always start with the lightest color.
    4. Gently sweep the paintbrush across the paper to paint.
    5. Rinse the brush thoroughly before using another color.
    6. Repeat steps 1-5.
    7. At the end of time, thoroughly rinse the brush, clean the watercolor palettes with a damp paper towel by blotting gently, and carefully close the watercolor palette.
  • Circulate to support students as they watercolor and to help them identify and stay within the background of their sketch.
  • After about 15 minutes, invite students to clean up carefully, put all materials back in the appropriate locations, and return to the whole group meeting area.
  • Tell students that they will continue to work on their watercoloring for the performance task artwork in the upcoming lessons by beginning to paint the tree part.
  • For ELLs: (Example/Non-Example: Watercolor Instructions) To ensure students understand they are painting only the background, consider providing an example and a non-example of painting the spaces inside the sketch. Ask students to share which example is correct and incorrect and why. 
  • For students who may need additional support with sustained effort: Invite students to take a quick finger-stretch break once or twice throughout the work time. (MME)

Closing & Assessments

ClosingMeeting Students' Needs

A. Independent Writing: Performance Task Art Planner (10 minutes)

  • Refocus whole group.
  • Direct students' attention to the posted learning targets and read the second one aloud:

"I can track the progress of my artwork through writing and drawing."

  • Distribute the prepared clipboards with the Performance Task Art planner attached and pencils.
  • Focus students on the checklist on the cover page. 
  • Using a total participation technique, invite responses from the group:

"What parts of the performance task artwork have we completed?" (watercoloring the background)

  • Model how to draw a check mark in the box next to the words "watercolor the background."
  • Invite students to check off "watercolor the background" on their Performance Task Art planners.
  • Tell students to open the Performance Task Art planners to page 3.
  • Remind them that in the first box they will write and draw about something they did today while creating the art, and in the second box they will write and draw about something they will do tomorrow.
  • Invite students to begin writing and drawing.
  • After a few minutes, refocus whole group.
  • Provide specific, positive feedback on students' abilities to think strategically about the work they have done and the work they will do in the future.
  • Tell students that in the upcoming lessons they will continue the watercoloring routine to complete their performance task art.
  • For ELLs and students who may need additional support with organizing ideas for written expression: (Oral Language: Exchanging Ideas) Before students write and draw what they did in this lesson, invite them to discuss their ideas with a partner. When they are done, invite them to explain what they've done with a different partner. (MMAE)

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