Peanut butter Sandwich
Directions FOR THE TEACHER!
*Note: This exercise practices listening skills as well as ability to write a detailed, well-organized technical piece. Therefore, it is important that the prewriting and drafting instructions be given verbally, with no added emphasis on the words "peanut butter sandwich".
- Prewriting:
- Draw a peanut butter sandwich.
- Pretend that you are going to tell someone who has never seen a peanut butter sandwich before how to make one.
- Drafting:
- Write the directions for making a peanut butter sandwich. Remember that the person you are writing for has never seen or made one before!
- Revising:
- TEACHER: Read the student's directions aloud, acting them out literally as you do so. For example, if the student says, "Get the peanut butter jar. Spread the peanut butter on bread," then the teacher would act as if he or she were holding a peanut butter jar, and (without unscrewing the lid) turn it upside down onto a piece of imaginary bread and begin rubbing it around with a puzzled look on the teacher's face. Also, if the student added jelly to the sandwich, exclaim dramatically that you are allergic to jelly and only wanted a peanut butter sandwich. As you can see, this is a quick, fun way to emphasize the importance of detail when listening to and writing instructions.
- Have the student rewrite the directions, paying special attention to detail.
- Ask the student (or another peer) to act out the directions exactly as they are written.
- Editing:
- Check your directions' conventions. Look for correct capitalization, spelling, and punctuation.
- Final Copy:
- Choose a way to visually present your directions. Options might include writing it as a paragraph in a food column of a newspaper, as a recipe on a recipe card, or as an entry in a cookbook.
- Be sure that you copy your peanut butter directions carefully and neatly, so that they are easy to read and enjoy!
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