Camp+&+Pavente

=Informational Writing to Teach Steps in a Process=

"How could you teach someone a new skill using more than one approach?"
 * Driving Question:**

This project, entitled "Informational Writing to Teach Steps in a Process," was designed to allowed students the opportunity to write for the purpose of teaching a skill. The students were provided instruction to write a step-by-step guide for an activity of their choice (for example, How-To Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich). The students then took digital photographs of the steps in the process, published them in their How-To Guide in Microsoft Word, and also uploaded them into a VoiceThread. They then commented into their VoiceThread, dictating the steps in their process in that manner as well.
 * Project description:**

The project was designed to teach students that when writing an informational piece the content needs to be accurate, specific, and clearly presented. This provided the students to have a specific audience and purpose for their writing. The students also revised their projects in a variety of stages and manners, demonstrating that the writing process is fluid and not always sequential.

Here is a voicethread and How-To Guide that was created to act as a model for the students: [|How To Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich]
 * Work Samples:**

Click below to check out a few samples of the students' final voicethread projects: How To Draw a Cricket How To Braid Hair How To Make a Paper Airplane || media type="custom" key="9201206" ||
 * **Click below for large versions**
 * media type="custom" key="9201240" || media type="custom" key="9201260" ||

Click below to see some samples of final microsoft word How-To Guides:

Completing this project was quiet informative to us as teachers, to see how much the students are actually able to do, and trouble shoot on their own. When we work on writing projects, the students tend to seek out help from adults in the room frequently. They need support, modeling, and prompting through each step. With the technology components at the forefront of this project, a shift seemed to occur. The students, rather than seeking out adult support, attempted to solve problems and difficulties they encourtered on their own. What was most interesting, we felt, was that when the students could not solve an issue on their own, they first sought out a classmates help and worked cooperatively to figure things out! This collaborative learning was the most exciting part of the project to us.
 * Reflection:**