How To Writing Activities

Your Favorite Sport
Writing When practicing how-to writing, have students explain their favorite sport. Stress that separate paragraphs discuss different facets of the sport. Have sports books ready to use as examples for students to see how clearly how-to's can be written. Also stress the need to include illustrations, diagrams or photos. Two excellent examples are: Wrestling In Action and Cheerleading In Action, both by John Crossingham (both Crabtree Publishing, 2003).

How-To Writing: Motivating Students to Write for a Real Purpose
This lesson allows students to write how-to essays for a specific audience – future fourth graders. Students first learn about the how-to writing genre by reading an assortment of instruction manuals (e.g., instructions for games, recipes, and instructions from a children's craft magazine). This also demonstrates how how-to writing relates to their everyday lives.

How to Write a Bio Poem
Writing a bio poem is an exciting way to introduce students who are afraid of poetry writing to the joys of the art by allowing them to talk about themselves. A bio poem is a mini-autobiography in poem form and is relatively easy to construct. Teachers will find that this exercise generates particular interest with reluctant students.

Best Part of Me
Students will think about themselves in a positive light, boosting self-concepts, as they follow an author's model to improve their writing skills.

How To Teach How-To Writing
Students will learn how to organize their thoughts using lists for a writing exercise.